A New Queen, an Old King, and His Curse
by InKsPoT1941
Summary: A re-telling of the myth of spring. The gods aren't perfect, Cronus is rising,the Fates are having trouble with their jobs, and on top of it all, Hades gets cursed to be in eternal agony. There's drama, intrigue, unrequited feelings, violence, and plenty grammar mistakes/ typos. Please enjoy; R & R. Rated T for now.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

He's going to be sick. Like a pathetic mortal, he feels his heartbeat – it's pounding in his ears and chest relentlessly. His mouth has gone dry and suddenly the back of his neck is drenched in sweat. For a quick moment, he wonders if this is what mortals feel when they die. He runs a hand through his black, disheveled hair – he feels like he's going to faint.

How this girl could make him so weak – with a simple toss of her hair, no less – is a mystery to him. _I'm getting soft. Weak. _She is standing with her mother; Hermes is fluttering around her like an annoying pest. _She is so beautiful._ Her emerald eyes look up, accidently locking with his and he suddenly feels very exposed. He quickly looks away and moves to head outside, but is stopped by a heavy pat on his shoulder. He feels the back of his head pound.

"Mother, who is that god over there?" Persephone asks, her eyes curious as she nods in his direction.

Demeter is slightly distracted, enjoying a conversation with Athena. She smiles lazily and asks, "Who again, my dear Kore?"

Persephone points, "That man there; Zeus is talking to him."

Demeter frowns. "Kore, my silly girl," she laughs uncomfortably, "that's Hades, Lord of the Underworld. I'm surprised he's here, really. Your pointing him out startled me."

"I haven't met him yet," Persephone says, "you should introduce me."

"Kore -"

"Mother."

"Kore."

"It'd be rude not to mother," Persephone says, crossing her arms.

"Kore, I – Kore! Persephone, wait!" But it was too late; Persephone is marching across the room. She wants to meet this 'Lord of the Underworld,' but more importantly, she wants to ask why he has been staring at her. She's been feeling someone's eyes boring at the back of her head the entire night – enough is enough.

Hades tenses under his brother's hand. He holds back a startled jump as Zeus pats his back.

"I was surprised to see you here, Hades. Leaving so soon?"

Hades regains his composure and straightens up. _Enough with this foolishness. I am no weak mortal swayed by lust. I am not my brother. _

"Zeus, you invited me. And I am sorry to say, but I really must be going. I'm rather busy, you know."

Zeus laughs, "What's one more soul to send to Tartarus? Or a thousand? Stay, drink, brother! Enjoy the festivities." Zeus looks at his brother's icy blue eyes for any sort of indication of agreement; instead, he sees his pupils dilate, taking over the blue and turning his eyes into black orbs. Zeus pauses, "Hades, are you alright?"

Hades isn't listening, though. He is frozen in place as his beautiful temptress makes her way towards them. Towards him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Zeus manages to turn around just before Persephone reaches them. As she steps before them, she gives a low curtsy, "My lords."

Zeus, forgetting Hades, puts his hands around his daughter and gives her a tight hug.

"Father, you're crushing me," she gasps.

"Sorry, sorry," Zeus lets her go. "So, you finally managed to get out of your mother's clutches for the evening, Persephone? That's good – maybe now you'll actually be able to talk to some of your suitors." Zeus winks at her.

Persephone rolls her eyes, "I'm not interested in any suitors, Father…" Persephone stops talking when she sees Zeus turn around to grab a rapidly retreating Hades.

"I don't think you've met your uncle, have you? This is Hades, Lord of the Underworld," Zeus pushes Hades forward so much that he almost runs into Persephone, only managing to balance himself just a few inches in front of her. He immediately takes a step back a puts up a regal façade, hoping that faking his confidence with her may give him some real confidence in the end. She once again curtseys and says, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Hades."

Doing his best to focus on a coherent thought, he manages to take her hand and kiss the top, "The pleasure is all mine, Persephone."

Persephone takes this moment to eye him up, noticing how his unruly dark hair cascades in front of his clear blue eyes; how his short beard accentuates all of his features. She comes to the realization that he looks quite different from the rest of the gods, who all have forms of golden hair, nicely tanned skin, a muscle-bound bodies. No, he's _quite_ different – his skin pale, his hair dark, his body lean and cut, but not overly muscled. She feels her cheeks begin to heat up as she thinks, _You're actually quite handsome, Lord Hades_.

While Persephone is eying him up, all he can feel is the throbbing in the back of his head, his rapid heartbeat, and the silky-smooth feel of her skin beneath his lips. He hopes he seems calm, because inside he is _burning_. After kissing her hand longer than perhaps appropriate, he lifts his head up once again and lets go of her. At the back of his mind, he hopes that his hand wasn't clammy.

"Now if you'll excuse me, Zeus, I really must be going. The Underworld never stops," Hades gives Zeus a curt nod. He nods to Persephone as well, "Till next time, my lady." And with that, he puts on his Helm of Darkness and disappears.

"He always does that," Zeus snarls as he takes a goblet of nectar from a nearby server.

"Does what?" Persephone asks, raising her eyebrow quizzically.

"Oh you know, stay for the important meeting and leave just as soon as the festivities start. He's been hanging around the dead too much in the Underworld, if you ask me."

"What does Lord Hades do in the Underworld anyway, Father? I've always wondered what those duties would consist of."

Zeus smiles at her from his goblet, "Perhaps you should ask him that yourself."

"When could I do that?" Persephone asks.

" At the winter solstice meeting-"

"The winter solstice meeting!" Persephone exclaims, "That's almost a year from now!"

"Calm yourself girl, you'll be able to see him again. It's only 8 months away," Zeus gives her a wink. Persephone's cheeks redden slightly.

"I am _not_ interested in Lord Hades, Father."

"I didn't say that you were. Of course you're not interested in him, my dear," Zeus' smile tells her that he thinks otherwise.

"Not interested in who?"

Both Zeus and Persephone turn around at the sound of a woman's shrill voice – Demeter. Her strawberry-blond hair is tied in a braid, her brows furrowed together over her green eyes. She looks very much like Persephone, in terms of physical attributes. Yet Demeter's face is hard and angular, her body willowy and thin, as if she might be blown away by the smallest wind, let alone the biggest tempest. Persephone is in so many ways different from her mother; though she too has red hair and green eyes, her hair is auburn, her eyes more emerald-looking than green, her face full, her body curvy and soft. Though both women are strikingly beautiful, it is clear that Aphrodite has blessed Persephone with a beauty only paralleled by herself, though some even say Persephone had passed Aphrodite in physical perfection.

Persephone walks over to her mother and grabs her hand, "No one, Mother. You need not worry."

"Kore, if this is about some boy-"

"It's not." She smiles despite herself – Hades is no boy, after all. _At least I'm partially telling the truth. _

"Just remember," Zeus calls out as Persephone and her mother head out of the palace, "Next winter solstice, all the gods will be there! I expect you two to attend…" Zeus' voice fades away as they continue walking.

_Maybe then I'll be able to ask why he was staring at me._ Somewhere, deep down, she thinks she might know the reason why.


	3. Chapter 3

_Aidoneous, my son. Come down to Tartarus and face me…win the crown of the skies that is yours by birthright. _Hades is sitting in his throne, his jaw clenched. " I will not fight you, Father. My brothers and I defeated you together. I'd be a fool to try and fight you by myself…"

_We both know that you were holding back. You wanted to give your brothers a chance. You always did have a thing about loyalty and rules. Such a shame that the strongest of my sons has the biggest weakness. Come now, boy, come down to Tartarus and show me your true form._

"No. This is a dream. I will not do as you ask…"

_Really? Can a dream do this?_ Just then, Hades feels a shadow clench his neck in a vice grip. His eyes begin to water as his legs kick out in front of him. _The only reason you gods are immortal is because there isn't anything on this earth strong enough to kill you. One day, there will be. _The grip tightens, and Hades can feel himself slipping away. He tries to grip the shadow in front of him, but there is nothing to grab, no hands to pry off of his neck. _You, my son, are ruler of the Underworld. So the question that begs an answer is: if you die, do you simply cease to exist? I think the answer is obvious. There is no Underworld for the gods – you exist or you do not. _The grip tightens even further, and Hades' legs stop moving. _Come fight me, or give up your existence…_

Hades wakes with a start in his bed. His chest is heaving and he is covered in sweat. He rubs his throat and notices that it feels sore. Since he'd seen Persephone at Zeus' festival, his night terrors had stopped, replaced with images of her. Recently, however, they had come back, and seemingly stronger and more realistic than ever. _It's time to do something. _

A servant comes in. She gives Hades a low bow, "Do you need anything, my lord?"

Hades slowly nods and says, "Fetch me my weapons and armor."

"If I may ask, my lord, where are you going?"

"Tartarus."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Something is seriously wrong. Throughout his many years of being Lord of the Underworld, Hades has felt many disturbing things. Things are constantly changing in the Underworld, and with those changes there are also minor disturbances in the way things feel. But this is a whole new level of disturbance – one that Hades has never felt before. And for a being as old as him, that is no small feat.

Tartarus is overflowing with an evil energy. As Hades walks, armed with his two-pronged fork and Helm of Darkness, he feels himself getting weaker and weaker. The closer he gets to his destination, the heavier the air around him feels. When he _finally_ reaches his father's mutilated head, his whole body feels like it's being crushed between two large boulders.

_I can sense your presence, boy. Take off that helmet before I crush you completely._ Hades is not sure why he listens to Cronus, but as he lifts off his helm he gets an immediate sense of relief. He takes his newfound strength to swiftly point his fork towards Cronus' head. _Finally come to fight me, eh? _

"Fight you?" Hades smirks, "you're nothing but a head. No, Father, I've come to punish you. You've kept from sleep for far too long." As Hades begins to strike his weapon down, something happens. Something that Hades thought was never possible. Cronus grabs the fork mid-strike, his hand now a constantly changing shadow. Hades steps back in disbelief as Cronus begins to take the shape of a man, his body made of shifting shadows from the neck down. _You can do better than that, Aidoneous. I know you can._

Getting out of his stupor, Hades growls, "Enough!" He sends a blast of green flames from his left hand to Cronus' face. Cronus smiles grotesquely as the flesh on this left side of his face burns off, leaving only charred cheekbones and an eye-socket in its wake. _Yes, that's better. Now it's my turn. _Cronus throws down his shadow-hands, bringing Hades to his knees with the weight of millions of evil souls. Hades grits his teeth as he is forced onto his hands._ No one is here to save you, Aidoneous. Get up and fight. _With that, something in Hades snaps; he grabs his fork, crouches, and then jumps and spins up with all his might. Holding his fork out as he spins upward, he creates a twister of green flames and hits it with all his strength towards Cronus; sending the rest of Cronus' head aflame and burning the souls threatening to crush him.

He lands in a crouch and slowly stands up. He's breathing heavily and his legs are shaking.

"Well," Hades says, trying to keep an exhausted tremor out of his voice, "that was fun. It'll take a while for your head to reform. Maybe a few hundred years. In the meantime, I'll be able to get some sleep." Hades picks up his helm and slowly begins to turn around when suddenly Cronus' shadow-body rushes up to him and roughly spins him around.

"How did you-" Hades can hear Cronus speak in his mind, _Prepare to feel a pain like none you've ever felt before._

Hades pushes the shadow of Cronus away with a piece of earth he summons from the ground. He closes his eyes at a sharp pain he feels at his side and teleports out of Tartarus and into his throne room.

Hecate and Thanatos stare at him. "My lord," Hecate says, "you're bleeding-" Hades looks down and notices that his armor is gone. His chest is bare as he sees his blood spilling out from a large stab wound under his right ribs; he notices a black, shifting, bruise forming under his skin near the wound. He falls to his knees and begins to violently convulse; it feels like his insides are being ripped out and set over a hot fire: first his intestines, his stomach, his lungs, and then his heart. He sees them being ripped out by a shadow as he desperately tries to hug his stomach and keep his insides in. This is definitely a pain the likes of which he has never felt before.

A/N:

Hey guys! Thanks for all your reviews! :D I think I'll give you guys three chapters today, and then start updating with one chapter a day. How does that sound? Again, your reviews are very much appreciated! I'm really excited for this story, and I'm glad you guys are enjoying it so far.

Some news: the rating for this story WILL eventually go up. In the next few chapters, people are going to talk about suggestive things, and such. BUT! I'm not going to change the rating yet. Nothing explicit is going to happen for a while, so I'm gonna keep it at T for now. Just lettin' ya'll know. Anyways, on with the story! :)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

"I don't like the idea of you spending the day with Aphrodite, Kore."

Persephone lifts her head up from the grass and looks down at her mother. "Why? You're the one who asked her to teach me about roses."

Demeter ignores Persephone's comment. "She's a nuisance, Kore. Always messing up peoples' lives with her love-plots."

Persephone smiles at her mother._ Honestly, Mother, 'love-plots'?_ "What's so funny?" Demeter asks.

Persephone looks down at the ground, and barely manages to keep in the laughter threatening to bubble out.

"Oh you silly girl," Demeter smiles as she gives her daughter a hug. "I love you so much, Kore. You are the most precious thing in the world to me." She stands up and brushes the grass off her chiton. "Well, I'm off to Olympus. Zeus and Hera have asked to see me. I won't be back until sunset. Do try to stay out of trouble when I'm away?"

"Of course, Mother."

With that, Demeter nods, satisfied with her daughter's response. She begins to glow brightly and then slowly disappear, traveling to Olympus.

Just then, Aphrodite appears over Persephone.

"Well, are you ready, Persephone?"

"Ready for what, my lady?"

Aphrodite smirks, "Your lessons in how to please a man, of course."

Persephone gulps. She's pretty sure this isn't what her mother meant when she said Aphrodite would be teaching her something about flowers. _This is going to be a long day._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Hecate steps into a dark room, lit with blue flames and glowing fauna. She bows low, "I am honored that you have agreed to see me."

The three Fates, Clotho, Lachesis and Athropos nod at her.

"Please my dear," they say simultaneously, "the honor is ours."

"Now," Clotho starts, "what brings you here?"

Everything comes out in a rush as Hecate says, "It's about Lord Hades. He went into Tartarus to check on something and came back severely wounded. Since then he's had a constant fever and seems to be having hallucinations…I know he's in a great deal of pain, but I've tried everything I know. The judges can only hold the Underworld together for so long, and in his absence the realm has begun to fall apart. I came to you…because I need your help." When she finally stops, she takes a deep breath and looks up.

The three Fates look down at the ground, each marked with an especially dark expression. "It is as we've feared," they say in unison.

"What is?" Hecate asks. They look up at her, "Something has been making it very difficult for us to see the fates of the gods, though we have been able to work through the fog clouding them from us with some effort. Lately, though, we've been completely unable to see Hades' fate. It seems that there is a quite a malevolent force at work, with Hades at the center of it all." The three sisters stop for a moment and look at each other, understanding passing through each of their eyes. Lachesis nods, and then asks, "You said he came back wounded. What did the wound look like? Was there any sort of mark around it?"

Hecate thinks for a short moment, and then slowly, she begins to speak, "He had a large stab wound under his right ribs…but there was something different about it. It looked as if an infection was already spreading from the wound. It's constantly shifting and moving underneath his skin…the wound has already healed, but whatever mark it left is still there…"

The Fates nod. "He's been cursed," Athropos says. The other two nod in agreement.

"Cursed?" Hecate has a puzzled expression on her face; she is the goddess of witchcraft – surely she would know if her lord was cursed. _Apparently not_, she thinks.

"How is the curse broken?" she asks. The Fates shake their heads, "It is an ancient curse, as old as Chaos himself. It can never be truly broken – only dulled."

Hecate lets out an exasperated sigh. "Alright, then how do we 'dull' it?"

"There are two ways," the Fates say, "though one is infinitely better than the other, but also infinitely more difficult to obtain."

Hecate nods, "Tell me both."

A/N: So what's with this curse, hmmmm? What's the thing that'll give our good ole Hades some relief? You'll have to wait until tomorrow for chapter 7 :) Again, leave reviews! :D


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

"Lady Aphrodite, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this."

"Of course you're not, my dear. That's precisely _why_ we're doing this."

"But my mother-"

"Oh please, my dear girl. Your mother won't be back for quite some time."

"But-"

"No 'buts'. You'll be married one day, maybe even in the near future. You wouldn't want to disappoint your new husband, would you?"

Persephone looks away and blushes. Really, she couldn't care less of what some man would think of her – and in bed, no less! She's only started to show some interest in men recently, and really only one in particular – but she never has thought as far ahead as _this_. _I only like him because he's handsome,_ she thinks. But marriage is a whole other story, and one that she doesn't want to be seriously thinking about for a while. And _sex_ is a whole other issue entirely.

She looks up from where she's been lying in the grass to notice Aphrodite still standing over her. She sees Aphrodite's long brown hair move as a slight breeze brushes past, with her arms across her chest, her brown eyes bright and small smile playing at her luscious pink lips. Persephone lets out a sigh. _Some people are just too beautiful for their own good. _Reluctantly, she says, "Fine."

"Yes!" Aphrodite squeals out. She moves to straddle herself on top of Persephone.

"Now," Aphrodite says as she takes both of Persephone's hands in hers and lifts them, "let me teach you about the art of foreplay."

Persephone looks up at her, confused, "Foreplay?"

Aphrodite smirks down at her, "You'll see."

* * *

"Asphodel Fields."

The man quivering before the Lord of the Underworld, looks up, surprised. With all the wrong he'd done in his life, he thought that Hades, unforgiving as he is, would send his soul straight to the depths of Tartarus. He prostrates himself to the ground over and over again, saying, "Oh thank you, Lord Hades! Thank you, thank you! People will hear of your mercy, my lord!" With that, he gets up and runs excitedly to the place where he'll spend the rest of his eternal existence, even before the guards have a chance to take him there.

Hades grimaces. He's stopped sending souls to Tartarus. A week after his fight with Cronus, he learned that each time he sent a soul there, he would feel even weaker – and he could feel the dark mark on his body pulse and grow across his chest. He decided that sending any more souls to Tartarus would be dangerous for him, and, consequently, the whole Underworld. But that meant he would have to let horrible people like the man he just judged have a relatively comfortable time in their afterlife. And because of that, he's been quite disgusted with himself.

As another soul walks up to his throne for judgment, Hades once again feels the tell-tale sharp pain at his side, and the accompanying searing heat. He groans and takes a swig of the potion Hecate had learned to make after her visit with the Fates months ago. She's been constantly making potions for him ever since. He feels the burning sensation begin to subside, taking him out of agony and making his pain bearable. He thinks back to when Hecate first told him about the only thing that could be discerned for his fate:

"You're going to be in pain for the rest of your life," she told him bluntly. Hecate was never one to beat around the bush.

When he was first told, he thought that he could deal with it, as long as he didn't have to be in complete agony. Now, though, he's not so sure if he can deal with being in pain for the rest of his life – even if he isn't in total agony – and as he thinks of this, he feels himself begin to delve into despair. _What if I can't do this? What then? Will Cronus rise, and destroy the gods because of my weakness? Will - _He is only taken out of his rapidly derailing thoughts by a slight nudge from his guard. "Lord Hades," the guard says, "the shade is awaiting your judgment."

Hades nods for the guard to bring the shade over. He looks into the shade's eyes, and goes through his entire life in a matter of seconds, categorizing every horrible deed, and every kind deed the man ever did. After seeing the man's whole life, Hades frowns, "You raped and murdered your daughters…you…killed and…ate …" Hades can't bring himself to say more. He braces himself for what he's about to do, and he hopes it won't put him in bed for a whole six weeks like it did last time. The deeds of this man _must_ be punished, even if it causes him great pain to do so. He sits up in his onyx throne and says, unblinkingly, "Tartarus." As the man screams while he is dragged down towards Tartarus, Hades feels himself grips the armrests of his throne. He grits teeth together as he feels the dark mark on his body undulate and grow even larger, leaving a searing hot sensation in its wake. He once again thinks back to what Hecate had told him after the fight:

"You will always be in pain, Lord Hades. Always. But it is possible to find some relief."

"I thought that was what your potions were supposed to be for?"

"It is, but it's not as long-lasting or powerful as the other solution I'm going to give you."

"What is it?"

"Love, my lord. Love will give you peace from this curse. You must find it, my lord, or else the curse will consume you. You will become a pawn for Cronus. "

He would have laughed then, had he not been in so much pain. Love seemed to be too simple an answer for this curse. But now as he thinks on it, gritting his teeth and trying to keep from crying out – he can't let his subjects think he's weak – he figures that he might as well try. The winter solstice meeting is only two weeks away, and he'll probably see herthere again. _Persephone_, he thinks. _Sweet, sweet Persephone_. As the next soul walks up, he feels the pain begin to subside, and figures he'll be able to last that long. Or at least, he hopes.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Well, the time is finally here. The winter solstice meeting has begun. This is her first time at the meeting, and Persephone sees gods and demigods that she never even knew existed. The courtyard of the palace is lit up with dozens upon dozens of intricate candles. She sees various statues of the gods, and walks to where she sees her father's statue, placed in the center of the pavilion. She notices the other statues of the gods who helped defeat Cronus in the Titanomachy, Poseidon with his Trident, Hestia, even her mother Demeter. Yes, all the gods who fought in the war were there…all except one. _That's odd,_ she thinks. _Why isn't there a statue of Lord Hades?_ She's pulled out of her reverie by gentle hand on her shoulder and turns around to see Aphrodite standing behind her.

Aphrodite smiles at her, "C'mon, Persephone! All the gods are waiting for you."

Persephone narrows her eyes, "Waiting for me? For what?"

"To play the kissing game, of course."

"Wait, wait, wait. The 'kissing game'? But what about my mother?" Aphrodite ignores Persephone and grabs her hand, pulling her along into the palace.

"I've got your mother all taken care of. Artemis is talking with her about nature and hunting and various other nasty things. At least that perpetual maiden is finally good for something."

"Hey!" Persephone says, an irritated tone in her voice.

Aphrodite laughs as she drags Persephone into the center of a circle of gods. She doesn't see Zeus – _of course he wouldn't be here; he's my father_ - Poseidon, Hephaestus – _well he's married to Aphrodite, so it makes sense that he wouldn't be here_ – or Hades there, and feels a twinge of disappointment at his absence. _He's a busy god…he probably has more important things to do. _Persephone turns to see Ares eying her, his brown eyes hungry and his smile making the various scars on his face look even more grotesque. Persephone notices the other gods looking at her with excitement. She decides right then and there that she's going to try and avoid Ares.

Aphrodite steps behind her and ties a blindfold around her eyes.

"My lady! What are you doing?" Persephone nervously asks.

"This is part of the game! The men dance around you as the music plays, and when the music stops you move forward and kiss whoever is in front of you."

Persephone goes to whisper in Aphrodite's ear, "But my lady…I'm afraid...what if…I don't want to end up kissing Lord Ares. He's much too…"

Aphrodite laughs, "Don't you worry about Ares. I'll take _good care_ of him."

Persephone blushes – she has a fairly good idea of what Aphrodite means by 'taking good care' of Ares. That's fine – as long as _she_ doesn't have to kiss him. _This might actually be fun. _She smiles as the music starts to play.

* * *

Zeus is quite irritated with his brother Hades. He wanted to enjoy the festival - he was going to have a good time drinking and fighting. And then he was going to have a good time with Hera. And after that, he was going to sleep for a bit and start the whole cycle over again. Yes, Zeus is _quite _irritated with Hades. But he's even more irritated with Poseidon, who's lounging on his bed like he's the King of Olympus. _He'd sure like to be, _Zeus thinks. The man has tried to overthrow him more than once, and yet Zeus keeps letting him back in, never punishing him for his transgressions. He even has a permanent throne on the council, where his much more loyal brother Hades doesn't. Not for the first time, Zeus wonders why he and the other gods decided to banish Hades from Olympus so long ago, letting him in for only special occasions. Again, he finds that he can't remember.

As he's pondering, Zeus hears his older brother yell, "Zeus! What are you staring at? This is serious!" He stops glaring at Poseidon and turns to look at his brother Hades. He finds that he doesn't much like what he sees.

Hades is holding his fork at his side, doing his best to look strong, but Zeus knows there's something wrong. He isn't holding himself up the way he usually does, with his back straight and his chest out, exuding confidence like a god should. No, Hades is slightly hunched over, and it almost seems like he's using his weapon to hold himself up. But where Zeus really sees a change is in his eyes. Where they were once calm and indifferent they now have a manic and paranoid look about them. Zeus closes his eyes, "Yes, brother, I heard you the first time. What is it?" Zeus flinches at the coldness of his own words. He didn't mean to sound so distant, but it came out that way.

Hades looks down, "Cronus is rising."

Poseidon looks up from his place on Zeus' bed, "What did you just say?"

Zeus stares at Hades – he can't believe what he just heard. He's completely flabbergasted. "Why – why didn't you say anything at the meeting?"

"I thought it would be wiser to let you know first…and there's something else."

Zeus and Poseidon nod for him to continue.

Hades lets out a throaty sigh, "I've been cursed." He slowly pushes down the top part of his robes to his waist. Zeus lets out a surprised gasp and Poseidon gets up from where he's been laying on Zeus' bed. They see the black mark covering his right side shifting and undulating across his abdomen and chest.

After a moment of stunned silence, Poseidon says, "Give me the Underworld, Hades," he moves closer to Hades, "you're too weak to keep the realm safe."

Hades stares at his brother. He had thought that bringing in Poseidon would be a good decision – that they would solve this as brothers. Clearly, that had been a mistake.

"Poseidon, be quiet. Hades has full right to his realm."

"Look at him, Zeus! He can barely stand! No wonder Cronus is rising – he's always been too weak to care for any realm, let alone the Underworld." At this, Hades moves to where Poseidon has been standing and grabs his neck. He slams Poseidon's head against the wall.

"You have _no idea_ what I've been going through, Kelp-for-Brains!"

"What, Hades?" Poseidon says through a choked gasp, "A little run-in with our dear old father makes you angry?" Hades growls and tightens his grip. Poseidon lets out a strangled laugh and is about to punch Hades in his right side, when Zeus yells, "Enough!" Hades immediately lets go of Poseidon, who starts rubbing his neck.

Hades puts the top part of his robes back on. "I think it's best if you leave, Hades," Zeus says. Hades half-heartedly nods in agreement and walks out of Zeus' room, distracted by his thoughts. He begins to feel his side bubble up with pain and starts walking faster. He needs to get back to the Underworld – he doesn't have any potions with him. If he doubles-over in pain here, Zeus might have no choice but to give the Underworld to Poseidon – and then Poseidon _really_ might be able to take over Olympus. As he walks, he doesn't notice the other gods standing in a circle in front of him. He hears a disgruntled noise as he brushes past Hermes and then stops in his tracks. In front of him, he sees the girl who gave him the first comfort he'd had in his dreams for almost a millennia. She steps closer to him, until she's inches away from his face. He distractedly notices that she's wearing a blindfold.

"Who is the lucky god, then? Do I know him?" Persephone smiles at him, but he doesn't answer; his nerves are too frazzled let him do anything but slightly pant.

"You won't answer me, then?" Persephone pouts, and Hades feels a twist in his gut that has nothing to do with his curse. "Well then, I suppose I'll just have to guess." Hades closes his eyes when he feels her hands move across his face, his knees going weak at the sensation. If he doesn't pass out from the pain at his side, he's sure he's going to pass out from _this_. Persephone smiles at him again, "You seem like you're a handsome god," her smile grows wider, "I think I know who you are."

And with that, she holds his head in place and kisses him.

A/N: I regret to leave you guys here, but I thought that it was a good end for the chapter. Unfortunately, I won't be able to update for a few days – there are some things going on in the real world that I have to take care of. Thanks ya'll for reading the chapter J I'll try to get another update in by Friday or Saturday.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I re-uploaded this chapter because I noticed that it ended up having waaaaaay more mistakes than I can tolerate. So, if you're wondering why it meant missing for a while, that's why.

Chapter 9:

He had his eyes closed, but as soon as she lifted her head, he _knew_. He could sense it coming. And when she finally pressed her lips to his, he felt his mind go blank. Now as she's holding him there, keeping his head in place with her hands at the sides of his face, he wants nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and deepen the kiss. _It would be so easy. Just a tilt of your head, a slight lick on her lips. Just do it_…_No, you'd be forcing her to…But she's kissing you right now, maybe she's thinking the same thing... _Before he makes his decision, someone pushes him roughly to the ground and he lands on his right side. He groans as sparks lite up in front of his eyes as he struggles to get up, his head reeling.

"YOU! Don't you touch my daughter, Hades! She does not need the smell of death tainting her beauty!"

"Mother please!" He looks at Persephone and sees that she's taken off the blindfold. Her eyes are watering and her cheeks are red. She's tugging on Demeter, trying to pull her back, but Demeter manages to break free just as he gets back to his feet.

"Mother, no!"

Demeter gets right in front of his face and slaps him, one, two, three times.

With her final slap he feels something ugly rise in his chest. He's angry now, angry at his pain, angry at his siblings, angry at everything. He looks around and sees all the gods looking at him, fear in their eyes. He hates them all. In that moment, he wishes that he could have the power to destroy them. His side is burning, getting hotter each time he takes a breath. He can't calm himself down. He feels the pain getting worse, clawing up his side and burning. _It's always burning. Burning, burning, burning_. Somewhere, at the back of his mind, he hears Zeus yell. He turns to look at his little brother, the King of the Gods. He sees his bronze hair, his golden skin, his broad chest – his brother. He _hates_ him. Then he hears Persephone yell at him. Before he has a chance to stop himself, he screams at her, "WHAT?" His rage causes the entire palace to shake.

She trembles slightly as she tries to say in a confident voice, "Release my mother, Lord Hades." He looks down at himself, sees that he's lifted Demeter into the air with his hand around her neck. He sets her down, his eyes wide as he realizes what he's just done. He looks at Persephone and sees that she won't look him in the eye. His side starts to burn more.

"Zeus!" Demeter yells, "Get this scoundrel of a brother out of here!"

"You WILL NOT tell me what to do in my own house, woman!"

"Did you see what he just did?"

"Yes I did! I saw everything! Now, please, just stop –"

Zeus and Demeter continue to argue, completely ignoring Hades or Persephone. Before he realizes what he's doing, Hades walks up to Persephone. He doesn't move to touch her, but simply leans his head down to her ear. He whispers, "I'm sorry, my lady." Persephone slowly lifts her eyes up only to see that he's vanished. She lets out a startled gasp. She hears Hestia yell at her parents.

"Will you two quit arguing? He's gone now."

Demeter turns back to scream at Zeus, "You let him get away! He touched my daughter, and then he had the audacity to lift me by the neck into the air! AND YOU LET HIM GO FREE?"

"He wouldn't have gotten away if you had stopped arguing with me!" Zeus growls at her.

"Oh, so now it's _my_ fault that he got away!"

"Yes!"

"Unbelievable, Zeus. Simply unbelievable. I want him punished. I want him to be in eternal suffering."

Zeus eyes Demeter, "Oh, do you now? And how do you reckon I do that? He's already been banished from Olympus. How do you suppose I punish him, hmmm? Don't you think that living in the Underworld, being constantly surrounded by death, is punishment enough? He's our brother, Demeter. Do really wish more pain and suffering on him?"

Persephone goes up to her parents and puts a light hand on Demeter's shoulder, "Mother, please, let's go home." Demeter looks at her daughter, her expression turning from anger to love. "Al – Alright, my Kore. We'll go home." As they start to walk away, Demeter turns around to look at Zeus.

"You knew this would happen, Zeus. You knew he would snap. We all knew it."

"Demeter, please leave."

Demeter shrugs and walks away with her daughter. Persephone feels a chill go through the air as she walks away from Olympus. She turns her head back to see Aphrodite mouth, 'I'm sorry.' _So many apologies,_ she thinks. _If only they had the power to make things right. _

* * *

"My lord, please! You need to-"

Hades isn't listening. He's destroying everything in his path, shaking with rage. He sees his throne and blasts it to bits with his pitchfork. He sees the giant line of shades in front of his ruined throne and he hits his pitchfork across them, sending a wall of wailing shades flying back. "You all," he screams, "are sentenced to Tartarus!" He sends a blast of green fire towards the shades and laughs as they begin to run around and scream in pain. He keeps laughing even as he sees a child shade scream in agony, each laugh sounding more maniacal than the last.

_That's right, my son_, he hears Cronus whisper in his ear. _Let the anger control you, let it fuel you. Make those on Olympus pay for their actions against you. _

"Make them pay," Hades laughs, blowing a hole through a wall in the Underworld. _They fear you and scorn you. Your own brother has banished you here for eternity. They hate you, Aidoneous. Make them pay. Destroy the gods, take their power, and I will make you king amongst them. _

"I HATE them! _I hate them, I hate them, I hate them!_" Hades screams, "I will destroy the gods! They will become mine to do with as I please!" He swings his pitchfork around in a circular motion, knocking away walls and shades in his path. _Yes, my son. You will destroy the gods. Use your hate. It'll make you so much stronger. _

"My lord Hades, no," he hears a voice call out to him. He turns to the sound of the woman's voice, rich and young and loving. He's blinded by her presence and moves to raise his forearm across his eyes – he can't tell who she is. He feels her touch his shoulder, feels his shaking stop. She lightly kisses him, and realizes who she is.

"Persephone…" He leans his forehead against hers and feels her hand press against his chest.

"Don't do this, my lord." He sees that she's crying into his chest. _NO! Aidoneous, you fool! You must destroy the gods!_

"Don't, my lord. Please." He nods.

"Yes, Persephone. I will do anything you ask of me."_ NOOO! I will make you pay for disobeying me once again, boy. You will pay dearly. _

Hades feels his side flare up in pain. As he falls to his knees, Persephone holds him and lightly runs her hands through his hair, comforting him. "Thank you, my lord."

* * *

When he wakes up, he's screaming.

"Hecate! Hecate, please!"

Hecate materializes in his room, "I'm sorry, my lord. Someone has stolen most of my potions. I was just making some now-"

"Just give it to me!" he screams. Hecate hands him a potion and he downs it in one gulp.

"Another," he gasps, wiping his forearm across his mouth.

"But my lord, if you have more-"

"I don't care! Give me another one!" Hecate looks at her king, hunched over in his bed and clenching his side, his eyes bloodshot and watering. She nods her head, "Of course, my lord. Here."

He once again drinks it in one gulp. Hecate sits down on the bed next to him.

"My lord, if you feel that you are not fit to judge today, I can tell Minos and the others-"

"No."

She looks at him. "Are you sure, my lord?"

After a few seconds when his breathing has calmed down, he give her a curt nod and says, "Yes. I am sure. I'll be in the throne room soon. Attend to your own duties, Hecate, I know I've brought you out of them. Just make me as many potions as you can today and give them to me. I'll have the Furies look for whoever stole them. Now leave me."

Hecate makes a low bow, "Of course my lord. Thank you for your kindness."

"No, Hecate, thank you. Thank you for your friendship."

She smiles at him, "Of course, my lord."

And with that, she leaves him to his thoughts.

"You must find love or the curse will consume you," he whispers to himself. "Oh Hecate, I don't think you knew how right you were."

A/N: Well, what do you know? I managed to update today. Heh. I really should get back to what I was doing, but yeah. So I hope you guys liked this chapter. :D Leave comments!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Before you guys start reading, here's a little disclaimer: there is a very short suggestive scene later on in the chapter. It's not super graphic, but you've been warned. Like I said, the rating will go up for this story, but I don't feel that I'v written anything yet to bump the rating up. That WILL change in the future, but not for a while. Anyways, without further ado, here's the story.

Chapter 10:

"The nerve of that man!"

"Mother, stop it! It's been two days already!"

Persephone throws her hands up in exasperation. Her mother had been complaining about Hades and Zeus for the past two days. Every hour she would hear some story or other about how Zeus had raped thousands of women while his brother sat idly by. Then she would hear stories about Hades' cruelty in the Underworld. _Then_ she would hear about his cruelty in the pit of Cronus's stomach. Persephone had finally grown completely tired of it when she said: "Well, you _did _slap him three times." That had completely set off her mother though, causing her to go on a rage-filled tangent even more annoying than the past two days combined. _Real smart, Persephone, real smart. _She groans when she hears her mother say something to the effect of: "I can't believe that oily black-heart dared to lay a finger on you!"

At this, Persephone can't help but yell at her mother, "_I kissed him_! In case you can't remember, there was _a whole circle of gods surrounding us_. "

Demeter glares at her daughter, "I will not have you speak sarcastically to me, Kore. Do I make myself clear?"

Persephone crosses her arms and narrows her eyes, "Perfectly."

Demeter huffs, "Good. Now I have to finish my work for the upcoming harvest – the sun is starting to set already. You can join me if you wish, or you can play with the nymphs."

She looks at the ground with her arms crossed, "I think I'll stay with the nymphs, thanks."

Demeter narrows her eyes and walks away. As her mother begins to glow and vanish, Persephone says, "You can come out now."

When there is no response, Persephone sighs and sits down on the wet grass beneath her. She brings her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around her legs. She looks out at the slowly setting sun leaving streaks of red and purple in the clouds and begins to lean her chin against her knees. Staring out at the setting sun, she says, "I have dreams about you sometimes, you know…Of a black wolf covered in blood, snarling at all those who try to help him. I see you in pain, never at peace…" she looks up at the purple clouds above her, "You're always running after a golden eagle in the sky… but you can never reach him. And I know it's you…he has your eyes, Lord Hades."

She looks right where he's standing. _She can't see me, _he thinks, _I have my helm on. How does she know I'm here? Can she sense me…like my father? _He isn't sure what to do. He had come to make peace with Demeter, and now he's here talking to her daughter, and he's completely at a loss for words. He frowns under his helmet. _This girl makes you lose your thoughts too easily, _he thinks. He decides to stay quiet.

With still no response, Persephone pats the grass next to her. "You can sit next to me, if you'd like…Helios really makes the sky beautiful at this time." After waiting patiently for a few minutes she starts to get up. She stops and sits back down when she hears a rustling at her side and sees him take is helmet off with the corner of her eye. She doesn't turn to look at him, simply sits with her head on her knees. He sits and looks at the sky, _really looks_ at it for the first time in over a millennia, and feels a sense of calm wash over him. After a few minutes, he turns his head and looks at her.

"Thank you," he says quietly.

She turns to him, a puzzled look on her face, "For what, my lord?"

He shifts beside her, scrunching his brow together as if think of what to say before finally deciding on what's appropriate. Finally, he says, "For letting me sit with you."

She sees his serious expression, dark hair falling in front of his pale blue eyes - the short, dark stubble on his face making their color pop out more in the fleeting sunlight. She imagines herself ruffling his hair, making it even messier. _Would that make you blush, Lord Hades? I'd love to see you blush._

Instead, she smiles at him – one of those breathtaking smiles that makes his heart feel like it's stopping, only to wind itself back up and start beating again – and says, "You're very welcome, my lord." And that's when he notices that his side isn't burning. He looks her face, her kind green eyes overlooking the grass field, her dark auburn hair cascading around her shoulders, and he realizes something. _Love? No, it can't be love. You barely know the girl…_but as he looks at her smiling back at him – his heart fluttering in his chest – he decides that if it's not love, it has to be _something_. He slowly gets up to leave and holds out his hand to her. She stares at him for a moment before taking his hand to stand up.

When she gets up, she looks him right in the eye, "I hope you find the peace you're looking for, my lord." She kisses him lightly on the cheek. He touches his hand to his cheek as she turns to leave. _Oh, Persephone, _he thinks, _I believe I already have._ He puts on his helmet and vanishes, heading towards Olympus. _  
_

* * *

"Zeus, stop it!"

"I can't, my love. You're simply too ravishing."

The girl beneath him giggles, "Is that what you tell your wife-"

She moans as he licks the side of her neck.

"Your talking," another lick, "is making things less fun."

She continues to giggle as Zeus starts to spread her legs, putting himself in between her thighs. He runs his hands up the sides of her legs and hears her give a throaty moan. Just as he's about to get down to business, he feels a cold shiver pass through him. He sits back on his haunches and scratches his head. He gets up from the bed and puts his robes back on.

"Zeus, what's wrong-"

"Wait here," he says as he walks out of his chamber. He hears her give a frustrated growl and smiles. _You'll get what you want soon enough._ He walks into the meal hall and once again feels a cold shiver rise up his spine.

Through a shaky breath, he says, "I see you're feeling better, Hades. You do know that you're not welcomed here, right?" He turns around to see if his brother is standing behind him – he finds nothing in the shadows. He looks all around him and finds nothing. Raising his lightning bolt, he yells, "Hades, stop with this nonsense! Reveal yourself!"

Zeus barely keeps himself from making a startled yelp when his brother appears out of the shadows right in front of him.

He glares at his brother, "State your business, Hades. You are not welcome here save for-"

"Save for winter solstice, yes brother, I know. I've simply come to tell you something."

Zeus smirks, "And that is?"

"I'm going to take one of your daughters to be my queen."

* * *

Zeus stares at his brother in shock. _Hades? Make one of my daughters his queen?_ He shakes his head and crosses his arms in front of his broad chest, "This seems pretty brash for you, Hades...And if I refuse this request?"

" This is not a request, Zeus. I'm going to do this. I'm simply letting you know."

Zeus's eyes widen as he sputters, "You - you can't just take one of my daughters, Hades-"

"I can, and I will. This is bigger than just me or you, Zeus. It has to be done."

"Really? Because it sounds like it's really just about you. Has it been so long since you've had a woman, Hades, that you need to steal one of my daughters to satisfy you? I have one waiting in my chamber, you can take her if you're in so much need."

Hades feels his anger rise up and his side begin to burn. Even as he thinks about it, he realizes that he hasn't been with a woman for…he can't even remember how long. His pain bubbles up more as he hears a sharp whisper in his ear – _Hate. _He shakes his head and curls his lips up in disgust, "As much as I, ah…_like_ the offer, Zeus, I'm afraid I'll have to refuse. Just know that by noon tomorrow, one of your daughters will be mine." As he begins to blanket himself in shadow, he hears Zeus call out, "You won't even tell me who she is? I have many daughters, you know!"

As the shadows completely engulf him, Hades quietly laughs, "You'll know who she is soon enough." And then he is gone, leaving Zeus completely alone in the giant hall, a sense of foreboding tugging at his heart. _This is not going to end well._

A/N: Ok, so this chapter was pretty fluffy compared to the last one. Fluffiness is cute, but I think it starts to get a little boring after a while. I was trying to go for a bit of a darker tone with this fic, but I feel like I'm failing completely. Grrrrrr. Well anyways, yeah. So leave comments and reviews, gaiz :D I wuv all of you who comment –it's really awesome when you take the time to do that. So thanks, gaiz :) P.S. I don't have a beta reader, but if you guys could please suggest one or would like to be one, let me know.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

_ So that's your plan then, Aidoneous? Morpheus could not keep you from sleeping, Hypnos could not stop me from entering your dreams …_

Hades clenches his jaw, feels the anger in his chest rise and his heartbeat speed up. He had been judging when he heard the familiar whisper in his ear, _She will hate you for this. Hate you, like all the others do…_At the time, he hadn't been sure whether it was Cronus who said this or whether it was himself. Now, as he stares out across the wall of shades in front of him, growing angrier and angrier with each passing second as he hears the venomous voice spout in his ear, he has no doubts. _Do you feel that pain at your side, Aidoneous? I control it. I'M the one who makes you clutch yourself and scream in agony like a pathetic mortal. I'M the one who gives you a touch of the power you crave. I'M the one that controls your fate. ME. Do you really think that this frilly young goddess will stop me – that she will save you? _

"Oh, will you please shut up?" Hades snaps. "I have to deal with you in my dreams enough already." He feels his side begin to burn and immediately drinks two potions. A snarl pierces his ears, _You will not find rest tonight, Aidoneous. I'll make sure of that. I've been going easy on you for far, far, far too long._

Hades smirks, "Do your worst."

_Gladly, my son. Gladly._

His smile disappears as he hears the last of Cronus's words fade from his mind. He lets out a breath that he hadn't known he'd been holding. Looking up, he clutches his side and whispers, "Please, Persephone, please pick the flower."

* * *

"So…what was it like, my lady…kissing the Lord of the Dead?"

Persephone giggles, "Oh you nymphs, always so nosey. Do you _want _me to get in trouble with my mother again, Chloe?"

"Of course, not my lady! The girls and I were just curious."

"I was only teasing," Persephone laughs, walking forward and leaving a trail of flowers in her wake. She pauses, "It was like any other kiss, I suppose. Soft…a little wet, too..." She smiles. "I liked it." Her eyes narrow, "But why are you so curious?"

"Because," the nymph sways her way in front of Persephone, "everyone says that he hasn't had a woman in ages!"

Persephone cocks her head to the side, "Had a woman?" The nymph gives her a look.

"Had a woman…Oh!" Persephone says. "I – I see…But… how could anyone possibly know that?" She feels her cheeks heat up; she knows that her face is turning beat-red.

The nymph gives her a mischievous smile as she walks back. "We nymphs know things my lady. After all, we are _quite _nosey."

Persephone shakes her head and laughs. Looking behind the nymph she notices something. _What's that...a flower?_

"Chloe," she says, "stop walking."

"My lady?"

Persephone walks around the nymph and gets on her knees, reaching out to touch the white petals of the flower.

"You're a pretty flower, aren't you?" She nods her head to the side, eyes narrowing, "Strange…I've never seen one like this before. Do you know what it is?"

The nymph scratches her head. Putting her hand to her chin, she says, "A narcissus, I think. They don't usually grow here…"

The two give a startled jump when the sound of Demeter's shrill voice rolls down the hillside. In the distance, Persephone can hear her mother yell, "Kore! It's time for lunch!" She groans as she moves to stand up, her eyes never leaving the flower.

"Chloe, run to my mother and tell her I'll be there shortly. I want to spend some time with this flower."

"But my lady –"

"You're starting to sound like my mother now. Don't worry – I'll be fine. It's just a flower."

"Yes, my lady, of course."

Persephone feels a triumphant smile spread across her face as the nymph begins to leave. Lifting her dress to sit on her knees, she once again inspects the flower. As she touches the soft petals, tracing her fingers down the stem, she suddenly has the urge to pluck the flower and carry it with her. _Such a sweet flower…maybe if I just…_She lightly coils her hand around the stem, gently pulling it up from the ground until the entire thing, roots and all, are firmly in her grasp. _There now, that wasn't so bad now was it?_

Just then, she hears the ground begin to rumble and groan. Looking around in panic, she's violently thrown down as the ground begins to crack beneath her, great fissures spreading out across the fields of flowers around her.

Trying to stand up, she yells, "Poseidon! Please stop, you're ruining my field-" She stops when she sees four black horses fly up from the ground, nostrils billowing smoke as they drag a gigantic black chariot behind them, lined with gold and silver. When her eyes finally make their way to the man at the reigns, her heart stops. She sees Hades, dressed in black armor, a blood-red cape flowing behind him, his jaw set and his brow furrowed. Letting out a blood-curdling scream, she turns to run, slightly tripping over the hem of her dress. She hears him curse behind her as she begins to pick up speed. _I just have to get to Mother-_ She begins to scream again as he lifts her, still running, over his left shoulder. Kicking and screaming, she does her best to fight against his grip as he begins to turn the chariot around back to the deep fissure in the ground. She flails her legs out and feels him loosen his grip and hiss when her left foot manages to connect with his right side. Moving to kick him again, she feels her foot stop in mid-air, an iron-grip around her ankle. Looking up from his back, she sees that they've entered the fissure, and lets out one final scream as the world above closes right before her eyes.

* * *

When she wakes up, she finds herself in a large room with walls painted as blue as the sky. She sits up from the massive bed she is lying on, dark green silk sheets decorated with leaf patterns splaying across her legs. Observing the room, she notices several mahogany dressers, adorned with rubies and laced with gold. Her eyes make a slow trail across the room to the exit: two large, onyx doors with giant golden handles.

"Persephone."

She gives a startled yelp when she hears his voice, deep, rich, strong…and with a twinge of pain in it. She turns to the sound of his voice. _Why couldn't tell he was here? _Her breathing quickens as she looks at his face, dark hair in front of his eyes, his mouth in a scowl. Her uneasiness grows as she notices that he's sitting rather close to the bed. _Get a hold of yourself, Persephone. You need to be smart here. _She sees him grimace and take a drink of what she assumes to be wine. She has the sudden urge to spit in his face and slap him. Instead, she chooses to insult him.

"So, in addition to being the lowly god of death, you're also a drunk." She tries to make her voice sound as venomous as possible, becoming even angrier when he doesn't respond.

After a few moments of staring at her, he finally says, "What?"

Furious, she moves her legs from under the covers and kicks his face, knocking him down. She runs to the set of double-doors and pulls at them with all her strength when she suddenly feels his arms grip her waist from behind. She starts screaming as he throws her on the bed and moves to straddle her. Throwing wild punches, she manages to crack him the face a few more times before he finally gets control of her wrists.

"So now you're going to rape me?" she screams. She sees his eyes take on a dark look and notices him shake his head a few times, almost as if fighting with himself. As he leans closer to her she spits in his face and says one of latest curse words she learned from Aphrodite, "Fuck you."

He really hadn't planned for things to go this way. Really, he hadn't. Though, as he thinks back on it, kidnapping her while wearing his black armor and flying his four black steeds probably wasn't the best decision he's made in his immortal life. Still, he had hoped that she wouldn't be _this_ furious with him. Now he's straddled on top of her, holding her hands over head –_Great job, Hades. She's going to hate you even more for this._ But as she keeps writhing and struggling under him, he feels something else rise in him. He looks down at her, her eyes furious, her breathing heavy, and her hair tousled from her struggling. When she tries to buck him off her hips, he feels his face flush at the sensation, the friction causing him to bite his lip. He distantly hears something about rape, and instantly feels ashamed. _If only she'd stop moving, I could tell her-_ His grip tightens around her wrists when he hears Cronus's sharp whisper in his ear, _So you're going to take her? Do it. She'll never let you have her otherwise. Take her like a hound takes a bitch. Take her. Take her. Take her._ Hearing Cronus's words in his hears, he begins to lean down, pausing when he feels her spit at his face. When he hears her curse at him, his eyes snap down to hers and he sees her fear. He immediately lets her go and sits up. He grips his side as it begins to boil and pound across his skin.

"I'm sorry," he says through a weak breath. He makes his way to the double-doors on shaky legs. When he turns to look at her, he sees that she's grabbed her knees in front of her chest, her tears leaving hot trails down the sides of her face. All the while, he hears Cronus continue to whisper in his ear, _Take her. Take her. Take her. _He clenches his jaw and shuts his eyes as he pushes the door open. Looking back to her, he says, "The servants will do anything you want. All you have to do is ask."

She gets on her knees and throws one of the large silk pillows at him. "What I want," she yells, "is to go home! Can any of your useless servants give me that?"

He gives her a sad look as he shakes his head and walks out, closing the doors behind him. She gives one final scream as she collapses back onto the bed, her eyes watering profusely. _Oh mother_, she thinks, _why didn't I listen to you?_

* * *

After crying for what seems like hours, she manages to fall into a deep sleep, only to be brought out of it when she feels her room shake, hearing the loud, painful screams of a man. _Probably just a shade,_ she thinks, trying to fall back asleep. But as the palace continues to shake with the man's screams, she knows that he isn't just some shade. _Persephone, what have you gotten yourself into?_

_A/N: So I was reading some messages today, and someone told me that they thought using a present-tense was a bit of an odd choice. It was more a stylistic choice than anything, but I would like to hear your guys's thoughts on this. Is reading a story in present tense a bit difficult to read? Letting me know will help me in the future, because I feel like I'm too deep into writing the story with this tense. In the future, I'll keep that in mind as I continue to write more fics. As always, pa-weez leave reviews. :) _


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

He sees her there, standing before him – naked. She is facing a setting sun, her back to him, body silhouetted with rays of orange and gold. He's frozen in place as he hears Cronus's cold whisper in his ear, _Take her. Zeus would do the same thing. _

Rage filling his chest, he yells, "I am NOT Zeus!" He looks to the sky and bellows out, "I am HADES! I am the Unseen, ruler of the Underworld! And I WILL NOT tolerate you in my dreams any longer!" The ground rumbles and green fire crackles around him as he tries to shake Cronus from his mind. A deep chuckle runs in his thoughts, _You are a god, Aidoneous. You cannot keep me from your thoughts or dreams. Look at the girl in front of you. I can feel your lust for her. It runs through veins and burns you. Will you take her there now as she stands in front of you, naked? Will you take what you crave? Power, pleasure, body and soul?_ Another loud chuckle passes through his mind as he feels himself shudder._ Zeus takes what he wants. He is a king – he is your king. You desire what he has. I can** feel** it in your heart. You **want **his power. You want his kingdom. You want **HER**. Can you not **FEEL** it?_

He clutches his side, more out of habit than pain now, and begins to walk towards her, feet weighing like lead with each step.

"Persephone," he whispers, his hand reaching out to touch her shoulder. She turns to him, her cheeks streaked with tears and points to a mountain high up in the sky. "See that?" she asks, her words harsh and laced with venom. "That was Mount Olympus." Her eyes narrow as she screams, "You **_destroyed_** the gods! You let Cronus free, and now the world is in Chaos! Are you **_happy_** now?" He yells in agony when he looks down and sees that she's stabbed him, twisting the blade. She grabs his robes and pulls to her face. "I _HATE _ you," she whispers, "and I will _NEVER_ forgive you."

He feels his mouth open – he can't hear himself scream, but he knows that's what he's doing. The world around him is in total chaos: black twisters forming over the ocean, dark lighting striking from the sky, and he sees himself atop his black chariot, master of it all. _She **hates **you, the gods **hate** you. Take what you want – take what is **yours**. Set me free, and you will rule over **EVERYTHING**! _

* * *

Hades wakes with a start in his bed, clutching his chest, a sheen of sweat coating his body.

When Cronus had told him that he would not get any rest, he thought he was prepared for it: pain, madness, anything. What he had not been prepared for was the feel of Persephone striking a blade into his stomach, twisting and turning it until he was sure his insides had been churned to mush. _ She hates me, _he thinks, running a hand through is disheveled hair. _She's always going to hate me. _Getting up, he moves to put his clothes on – a dark tunic pinned with a red cloak. Sighing, he makes his way to the throne room. _This is going to be a long day. _

* * *

After waking up that morning, Persephone had found herself surrounded by thousands upon thousands of beautiful dresses. At first she had thought that that the previous day had been dream, but a cold feeling began to creep over her as she began to remember where she was. Now, as she's running her hands over the dresses – all beautiful and ornate and rich – she can't stop the bile in her throat from rising. _He was going to rape me. _She feels her hand grip around one of the dresses when a knock comes at the door.

"Come in."

A servant walks in and gives her a low bow. "Lord Hades wishes to see you in the throne room, my lady."

Persephone rolls her eyes. "I see…And if I do not wish to see him?" Even as she's saying it, she knows it's no use. If Hades wants to see her he will make her come whether she wants to or not. With an irritated huff, she picks one of plainest dresses she can find: a white gown, etched with light, silver-colored patterns of flowers.

When she finishes putting her dress on, she turns to the servant and notices for the first time that her face is partially translucent. _A shade? _

With an uneasy smile, she asks, "Can you guide me to the throne room?"

The shade gives a low bow. "Of course, my lady. Follow me."

* * *

Walking into the throne room, Persephone feels her anger boil up as she sees her kidnapper leisurely sitting on his throne, chin resting against his left hand. His face is angry, and it looks like he hasn't shaved for a few days. She sees him take a drink from the bottle he's holding underneath his chin and feels her mouth curl in disgust.

"Hades." She won't give him the satisfaction of calling him 'my lord' or 'Lord Hades' – no, he doesn't deserve her respect.

His eyes turn to look at her, bleary and bloodshot and she can't help but notice how different he looks. After staring at her for what seems like ages – _He's always doing that! Why does he do that? _– he finally says, " Good morning, Persephone. Did you sleep well?"

Her eyes flare up in anger – she wants to bash his head against his giant onyx throne and run away. Away, far, back home to her mother, but something tells her that leaving the Underworld likely won't be so easy. Instead, she grits her teeth and nods.

"Good," he says, running a hand through his hair. He lets out a breath and nods to himself. "Persephone, there's a great deal you and I need to discuss-"

"I want to go home."

He ignores her comment and continues, "Today I will be giving you a tour of my realm." Grimacing, he takes another swig of the drink in his hand while Persephone crosses her arms and nods her head to the side. Eyes narrowing, she asks, "Why?"

He looks out at the wall of shades in front of him and lets out a pained sigh. "Because, my lady," he turns his head to her, "you are to be my queen. You must know the realm if you are to rule with me."

* * *

Persephone's jaw drops in shock. _Me? A queen? A QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD? HADES' QUEEN_? Taking a step back and shaking her head, she says, "No, no, no, no. This- this must be some mistake! I c – c – can't be your queen. I don't WANT to be your queen!"

He gets up from throne and walks towards her. At first thinking that he is about to strike her, she readies herself. Instead, she is surprised when she sees him hold out his arm for her.

"Come, the chariot is ready." He gives her an expectant look. _You really expect me to take your arm after all you've put me through? _She crosses her arms, sees that his icy-blue eyes are boring into hers. _Will you quit staring at me? _The two stand there, angry sparks flickering between their eyes. After doing her best to stare him down, she sees small corner of his lip turn up and she knows she's lost the battle. _Gods I hate you! _Looking at his face, she sets her jaw and reluctantly takes his arm.

As he lifts her into the black chariot, a plan begins to formulate in her mind. _Just keep him happy, do what he says. Maybe you'll be able to figure out a way to escape this place on the tour. _From the first time since her kidnapping, she feels herself begin to really smile.

* * *

A/N: So I'd like to say thanks to all you guys that reviewed. I'm that that the present-tense thing isn't too much of a problem. I'm going to be working full-time starting tomorrow, so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update. Honestly, I'll still try to update daily or semi-daily, but I can't guarantee it. But yeah. Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter. As always, leave comments!


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Zeus is sitting in his marble throne, fuming. His brother really couldn't have done this – could he? Hades? _Nonsense, Hades would never do anything so stupid. _He starts laughing as he imagines his dark brother kidnapping Persephone when he feels a stalk of wheat hit him in the face.

"ZEUS! This is no laughing matter! Someone has KIDNAPPED OUR DAUGHTER! SOMEONE HAS KIDNAPPED MY KORE!"

"I'm well aware of that, Demeter," Zeus growls, rolling his eyes. His brother _did _tell him that he would learn which daughter it was once he took her. Persephone had barely been missing for ten minutes when he heard Demeter's shrill voice bellowing at the doors of the palace. _Oh Hades, what have you done?_

"Mark my words, Zeus – if she is not found soon, the humans will die. I will no longer provide the harvest for them. The earth will become barren and you will lose the worship of the people. Mark these words, for this will be last time you see me until she is found."

"Well let's hope that no one finds her too soon then," he says, giving a low chuckle. As Demeter's rage shakes the walls of the palace, Zeus silently hopes that his brother has made the right choice.

* * *

"These are the Asphodel Fields. Most souls reside here after death. They-"

"Was that you, screaming last night?"

Hades turns to look at Persephone, careful to keep the shock from his expression. The question has caught him off guard.

Throughout the whole tour Persephone had been silent at his side, occasionally giving a nod here or there. She was distracted, he could tell. The only time she had shown any interest was when they rode past the river Styx, and even then she hadn't looked at him.

"This is the river Styx," he had said, an air of pride in his voice. "That man there," he said, pointing out to a white-bearded man dressed in black, billowing robes, " is Charon, my ferryman. Wave to him, if you'd like. He doesn't much get to see living visitors." Hades gave her a sheepish grin, but she ignored him, staring at the gray river – her green eyes analyzing its depths and the way it snaked across the Underworld. _She's probably trying to figure out a way to escape, _he had thought, frowning.

Still, she was by his side - holding his arm, in fact – and he had felt himself calming in her presence. He would not let her leave so easily.

And now, looking at the determination in her eyes, he realizes that lying to her will be no use. _That doesn't mean I have to tell her everything just yet. _Turning his head out towards the fields, he says with a heavy sigh, "Yes. I apologize if I disturbed you."

"You're always apologizing." Hades can hear the venom in her voice – the venom he heard in his dream, and he moves to hold his side, bringing her closer as he does so. He begins to feel cold tendrils rise up his spine – echoes of the sharp whispers of Cronus, and he knows he's driven the chariot to the exact place he does_ not_ want to be. _Why did I come here?_

He hears Persephone gasp at the back of his mind and feels her move closer to him, her grip around his arm tightening. They're right at the edge. The giant, black abyss of Tartarus stands before them, and he feels his heartbeat start to race. Coils of shadows swirl up from the pit and suddenly everything begins to feel heavier. _What is this – fear? _His eyes shut as he hears Cronus's dark whisper, _Yes. You are in fear, like a pathetic mortal. But is it because you fear me, or the pain I give you? _

Pain, sharp as the blade he'd felt in his dream, shoots up his side. Cronus gives a low chuckle in his ear, _Or do you fear the power you will have if you release me? _

"St-stop…" he hears himself weakly say.

_Stop what? You are in my domain now, boy. You are **MINE**. _He feels himself losing control – his heart is pounding and his ears are ringing. Power, mad power – is right within his grasp, crackling at the end of fingers. _That's right, Aidoneous. Give in to the power and release me –_

"Hades! I know that you must love this… 'place', but may we please leave?" Persephone's grip is tight around his arm and she's shaking against him. He feels the last of Cronus's words leave his thoughts, leaving an angry trail across his skin and he knows he's not getting any sleep tonight again. Running a shaky hand through his hair, he says, "Of course, my lady, of course. In fact, I'd like to show you one last thing…"

* * *

The moment they had reached the Elysian Fields, Persephone had all but jumped out of the chariot, almost kicking his face again the process. And, for the first time since he had brought her into his domain, he saw her laugh and felt his heart flutter. She had run through the tall grass, looking at the beauty of the buildings surrounding her, when she finally settled herself by a tall tree and sat.

Now she sits there, overlooking a bank of crystal-clear water leading to the Isles of the Blessed – towering mountains, covered in green and adorned with flowers. She can smell the food and hear the laughter coming from the fields and the islands and feels a pang of sadness hit her.

As she runs her hand through the cool water, she once again surprises him with the sweetness of her voice. "I never thought anything this beautiful could exist here…"

"You're here."

She turns to look at him, and sees that despite the sadness in his expression, he really is sincere. And, despite everything, she feels herself blush.

She hears him clear his throat behind her and sees him shifting his feet.

"Right. I'll, ah, leave you to it then-"

"Why did you take me here, Hades? Why did you kidnap me?" She's standing up now, looking right at him, and he can feel her eyes bore right into his skin. He thinks about it for a moment before finally deciding on an answer.

Moving closer, he lightly brushes a strand of auburn hair from her face. "Because, Persephone," he says, gently whispering into her ear – she can feel the stubble of his short beard prickle against her skin and she suppresses a shudder – "you bring me peace." He moves back then, knowing that he's worn out his welcome with such close contact and he gives her a small smile. His smile grows wider as he sees her shock spread across her face.

"I have some duties to attend to. I trust that you can find your way back to the palace?"

She cocks her head to the side, her shock being replaced with curiosity, "You don't think I'll try to escape?"

Climbing his way back into his black chariot, Hades waves his hand in the air and says, " I trust you." And with that, he's gone, his four black steeds leading him back to the palace.

_Great,_ Persephone thinks as she lies back down in the grass. _Couldn't you find some nymph to 'give you peace'?_ It doesn't help that every time she runs her hand through the cool, clear water she's reminded of his cold, blue eyes. She smashes her hand in the water in an attempt to rid herself of his image in her mind. She lets out a growl of frustration when she realizes she could have – she _should have_ – hit him right there when he put his hand to her face. Hit him right in the groin and made a run for it – steal his chariot – that's what she _should have_ done. But he had her there, captivated her with his soft voice, his blue eyes, his earthy scent, and she was powerless to resist. And then he tells her that she gives him peace! _Ridiculous. _But as she looks at the water stretching across from her, she's reminded of her dream of the black wolf with his eyes.

* * *

The sky was alight with constellations, the moonlight making the trees around her glow. She could feel the wet grass under bare feet and as she got closer to her mother's temple, she heard the strangled howl of a wolf. Running as fast as she could, she hid behind a tree once she found the animal, black fur shining in the moonlight with red blood. _Mortal blood._ She could hear its whimpers, see the pain in its blue eyes, but each time she would reach her hand out, the wolf would snarl.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she said, slowly reaching her hand out, "I only want to help you."

The wolf backed up, blood oozing out from an open wound at its side. Baring its teeth, it snarled at her again. When she looked into its eyes for the second time, she knew who it was.

"My lord Hades, please, let me help you." This time the wolf cocked its head to the side and let out a low growl. She reached her hand out again and said softly, "I'm not going to hurt you…"

When it finally seemed like he wasn't going to attack her, she sat down next to him and gently ran her hand through his dark fur. As she reached his side, matted and bloody, she rubbed the back of his ears. "Who did this to you, my lord?" He let out a low growl as he nodded to a man in front of them, cloaked in shadow. She couldn't see his face, but she could feel his power.

"Run after the eagle," he said, his voice like a thousand knives, "destroy it, and I will give you power." She felt the wolf tense up at the man's words and noticed that his side began to bleed more profusely. He looked at her, whimpering and in pain.

"Ignore the girl! Destroy the eagle, and I will give you the power you crave!"

"My lord, no!"

But it was too late – the man in the shadows had won, and the wolf had started running after a prey it would never reach, always in pain, never at peace.

* * *

Persephone hadn't thought much of the dream then, or the fact that they were beginning to reoccur with frequent regularity since the winter solstice. She'd often had reoccurring dreams, many of which were strange and dark. She had simply thought that it was a product of her overactive imagination – in the end, she had assumed that these dreams were a result of constantly being surrounded by cheery wood nymphs or her mother's grain fields – she had thought that this was her body's way of releasing tension, freeing her subconscious from the repetitive and somewhat boring life of being the Spring Goddess.

Now, looking back on her dream and the past few days' events, Persephone knows that was something to it. _Zeus – the eagle, Hades the wolf…but who is man in the shadows? _She crosses her legs in thought as she ponders. _Who would want Hades to go after Zeus? Who would have that kind of power? Poseidon? No._ She shakes her head. _Then who does that leave…_She feels something dark tug at her heart when she makes the realization…_Cronus? Oh gods, no._ Shaking her head, she throws a pebble in the water. _You're getting ahead of yourself here, Persephone. Cronus is in pieces in Tartarus. He couldn't possibly…_But then she remembers how Hades had acted near the pit, how he almost absent-mindedly drove their chariot to the edge, how his eyes had glazed over…_Well, then, what of it? Hades kidnapped me. I owe him nothing._

With a defiant lift of her chin, she thinks, _And tonight, when everyone is asleep, I'll make my escape across the Styx. _When she feels the pull at her heart as her thoughts drift back to the wolf in her dreams, she once again says to herself, _I owe him nothing. I owe him nothing. _She lies back down in the grass with her arms crossed.

"I owe you nothing, Hades."

* * *

A/N: Wow, haven't updated for like a week. Sorry about that, guys. But it's probably gonna be like that for a while. Lord knows, having a 40 hour workweek makes ya tired. But I do wanna finish this story. So yeah, bit of a longer chapter here (well, for me, anyway), but I hope it was enjoyable. As always, leave dem comments of yours. Also, if anyone could suggest a beta reader, I'd be so effing grateful, like srsly.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

"Good afternoon, Dionysus. Isn't a bit early for wine?"

Dionysus feels himself nearly jump out of his skin when he hears the gruff voice. He sets his wine down on the large granite table, and slowly – shakily – turns his head around; carefully taking his time to remove all traces of fear from his face.

"Ha! It's never too early for wine, Uncle. Well, at least for me." Dionysus tries to give a happy grin, but he feels the muscles in his face twitch and spasm at the attempt. He, like most of the other gods on Olympus, has never been fond of the Lord of the Dead. After his banishment, the man was even easier to dislike, and throwing curses in his name became the pastime of gods and humans alike. But, even after all the jeers and hatred, there was one thing that the gods knew Hades still had: power. Zeus never said anything, and neither did Poseidon, but the three brothers knew, along with the rest of the gods, that they were the most powerful – and that their strength was equal to each other. Zeus may have been made King of the Gods, but that was only possible because of his brothers'(albeit reluctant on the part of Poseidon) acquiescence for the throne.

Each god had a third of the universe, and the realms of sky, sea and underworld given to them as rewards for their defeat of the Titans in the Titanomachy.

And for this, though the gods cursed his name and rejected him, Hades was still feared for the power he had over the world. On the days he was allowed on Olympus, Dionysus had paid special attention to the god, so as to avoid him – at least, that's what he told himself. In doing so, he would categorize every detail –dark, unkempt hair, piercing ice-blue eyes, chiseled features, a strong jaw – overall, a handsome face, but Dionysus was always bothered by his expression. Or rather, lack thereof.

Hades never had a hint of emotion on his face. Even when the gods would sneer at him, or openly insult him – which is something only Ares had foolishly decided to once (he was promptly reduced to a pile of blithering cries after Hades chose to stare at him, his countenance never changing from simple indifference) – Hades had never made a face.

It had always been like that for centuries – until the last winter solstice, when Hades had lifted Demeter in to the air with his hand tight around her neck. Dionysus had been drinking wine all night, but his thoughts had immediately cleared when he saw the look on Hades' face. It was fascinating, at first, to see so many things in one expression: love, confusion, hatred, rage…_madness_. And just as quick as it came, the expression was gone, drained from his face as if it had never been there to begin with. Hades had set Demeter back down, walked over to Persephone, and disappeared in shadow.

And, ever since that night, Dionysus had felt himself grow ever more curious, and ever more afraid – finally seeing an expression on the Lord of the Dead's face, a _mad_ expression, was unsettling to say the least.

But now his uncle is just lounging on his pile of pillows near the fireplace, not a single hint of anything on his face, and Dionysus feels himself relax just a tad. He quietly clears his throat and pours his wine into a goblet, his back turning to face Hades as he does so. He hears some movement behind him, and clears his throat once more. "Every hour is the drinking hour, Uncle. Would you like some wine?"

"No. I've had enough today to last me a few centuries." Dionysus looks back over his shoulder to see Hades hold up a dark glass bottle, the liquid swishing back and forth. Dionysus turns around with his goblet in his hand and attempts another grin. "Well then, I suppose that leaves more for me." He moves to sit across from Hades, doing his best to gauge the god's mood while all the while trying to keep a safe distance without being overtly rude. He lies down on his favorite pillow and takes a small sip of wine.

That's when he sees it – a crack in Hades' façade. It's quick, but it's there: a grimace, followed by a darkening of the eyes and a clench of the fists, and Hades takes a sip of the wine he's brought – and just like that, the indifference returns, cold and calculating. _My, my, my, how…interesting. _Dionysus can feel the corner of his lips turn up. _What has you bothered, my dear Uncle Hades?_

"You know, I never took you for a drunkard like me, Uncle."

Dionysus can see Hades' eyes flick up, another dark spark passing over for a fraction of a second.

"People change, Dionysus." _Oooh, was that a little bit of anger I heard? _

"_People_ change, yes," Dionysus says, taking a sip from his goblet, " but _gods_ do not."

Dionysus know he should be feeling fear, he _knows _he should be _quaking_, and some part at the back his mind does remind him that he _is_ afraid, and that he should _not_ deliberately be trying to irritate Hades, but some part of him – some _insane_ part of him (probably some unfounded courage from the win) – is just too curious. And when he sees Hades give a quick clench in his jaw and take another sip of whatever he's brought with him – Dionysus is sure it's not wine now – he feels his curiosity begin to outweigh his fear.

He leans in closer to Hades, and gives his most deviant expression. "Why are you here, Uncle?" He knows the answer, but he wants Hades to say it – to admit his weakness. He waits, but Hades seems to be arguing with himself. _C'mon, you old fool, I know why you're here, just say it. SAY IT, DAMMIT! _

"Hades," his uncle looks up, " Why. Are. You. Here?"

Hades' brows furrow and his eyes turn dark, and for a moment, Dionysus wonders if he's made a mistake. _I'm too deep into it now; might as well go all the way._ "I figured you would already know, Dionysus."

"Oh, I know, alright. I _know_." He feels his growing grin begin to falter as he sees Hades' expression grow darker. _Now you might be pushing just a tad too hard here, Dionysus. _

"Then why are you asking me?" The words come out through clenched teeth, and Dionysus thinks that perhaps he's had bit too much wine because even with his fear and his heart pounding in his chest, he throws Hades another grin and moves to sit right in front of him – his face inches away from the Lord of the Dead.

"Because, my dear, dear uncle…_I **want** you to **tell **me_. "

He's looking right into Hades' eyes, and he can _see_ it. See the anger and the rage and the hatred and the _madness_ threatening to take over, and Dionysus knows he's never seen such a frightening sight – and _beautiful_ sight – in his life before. And it's a strange feeling to be scared out of your wits and yet so entranced by what you see.

He almost feels time stop as he hears Hades say, with as much controlled anger as one could possibly muster, "I'm losing myself, Dionysus." Hades takes a long breath before continuing, "I can feel my control slipping every day. I'm falling into madness." He looks up at Dionysus, eyes piercing as he says, "You're the god of madness…Will you help me?"

Dionysus gives the happiest, loudest chuckle he's had in centuries and takes a large gulp from his goblet. "No."

He gives another loud chuckle when he feels shadows grip around his body and face, tight and strong. He doesn't know where his fear has gone, because when Hades peers down at him with the most malicious look he's ever seen, he just feels his chest fill up with glee.

"Why," Hades grits out, "**_not_**?" And the sharpness of Hades' words are enough to make the room chill and the fire go out.

That's it – the façade is completely cracked, and Dionysus has never felt so happy in his life. It's dark, it's angry, it's chaotic and_ it's powerful; _he sees Hades breathing hard, right at the edges of his control, and it is simply _glorious._ He feels a strong kick to his chest and falls back, laughing as a mixture of pain and arousal courses through his veins when Hades gets his face between his thumb and forefinger and starts crushing his jaw.

"You **_will _**help me, or I'll tear off your head and feed it to my dog."

"What of it? We gods cannot die."

"No," Hades sneers, "but we **_can_** feel pain. And you will feel pain if you do not cooperate."

"Temper, temper," Dionysus chokes out, still keeping his stupid grin. "I quite like this…emotional side to you, Uncle. It gets me _quite excited_." A hard punch to the face and Dionysus feels his head start spinning.

He grabs Hades' wrist and digs his nails in, drawing ichor, and he sees Hades lose just a fraction more of his control.

"Why don't you just _give in_, Uncle? It's no use trying to stop it. I can see you losing each ounce of control as we speak. Just let go – your madness will be _glorious_."

"I will**_ destroy_** Olympus if I give in, you fool! I – I will have no control over myself!"

And Dionysus is laughing now, uncontrollably – _all he needs is just. One. More. Little. Push. _

"Then **_do it_**." Dionysus hears a scream pierce his ears, but whether it's one of anguish, anger or mania, he's not sure. But when the scream stops, he knows Hades is gone, disappeared back into his shadow the recesses of his realm. He smiles. "I suppose a visit to Ares would be a good choice at this point – glorious war fueled by _glorious_ madness is coming. How _exciting_."

* * *

It surprised her, but as the day began to wear on, Persephone felt herself losing her anger. Looking across the fields of green and running her hands through the grass had given her a sense of determination and focus, no longer fueled by her anger at Hades, but rather her love for her mother. _I'll be back home soon, Mother. I promise. _

It was then that she felt the air grow colder around her and the sky (_there is no sun here; it_ _must be an illusion for the shades_) begin to darken.

"I guess I've been out here long enough…" She can't shake the feeling that something is just…off. Wrong. When she feels the ground rumble beneath her feet, she makes the quick decision to head back to the palace. _Time to go._

* * *

"My lord Hades, you need to calm down. You are in no state to –"

"Do **_NOT_** tell me what I can and cannot do, Hecate!"

"But sire!"

"**_Enough_**! Go back to your duties, and leave me to mine."

Hecate gives a low bow and says, "As you wish, my lord."

"I do wish it. Now leave." Hecate sees Hades take a large swig of the potion before sitting on his throne, motioning his hand to call up the nest shade. She gives one last sad glance at her king before walking out of the throne room. As she passes through the corridors leading to the outside of the palace, she sees the girl Hades had kidnapped the day prior. She takes note of her green eyes and dark auburn hair and smiles to herself. _The king is like any other man, after all. _

"Who's there?" the girl asks, her voice light and cautious.

"There's no need to fear, my lady. I am Hecate, goddess of crossroads and witchcraft, at your service."

As the mysterious woman walks out of the shadows, Persephone feels herself relax. Though she looks nothing like her mother - with her dark curly hair and dark skin – she sees kindness in her brown eyes, as well as power. The woman – Hecate, she says – holds out her hand and gives her a kind smile, which she can't help but return.

"I have introduced myself, young one. Now it is your turn. What is your name?"

Persephone pauses, and nods her head to the side; her brows scrunched in thought. "My mother calls me 'Kore'," she begins frowning, "but I am mostly called Persephone –goddess of spring." She gives Hecate a smile.

"Persephone, hmm? What an interesting name for the goddess of spring."

She gives a small laugh, "Interesting? Why is that?"

Hecate just gives her a small smile, "You'll see." But before Persephone has a chance to ask her more, Hecate disappears in a cloud of purple smoke, leaving Persephone coughing and choking. She rolls her eyes, _Underworld gods and their disappearing tricks…_

She makes her way into the throne room and once again sees Hades there, bottle tucked under his chin. From the looks of things, he's judging a shade. She hears him say, "Tartarus" and notices his right hand grip his armrest and sees his teeth clench. She also notices that his short stubble has grown much scruffier looking over the course of the day. She clears her throat and says, "You could stand to shave, Hades."

At that he looks up at her, and at first she's afraid he's going to be angry, but he just looks tired. And, as she looks closer, she sees a small corner of his lip is turned up, and it infuriates her. _Damn him! How dare he smile at me? Was that even a smile? What was that? Damn you, Hades, with your half-smiles!_ She knows she's got a sour look on her face, and she feels it grow when she sees Hades break into a full-on smile.

And it's odd seeing him to that, because it makes her breath catch with just how genuine it looks. _Get ahold of yourself, Persephone! He's just trying to charm you-_

"You're quite cute when you scrunch your eyebrows like that, you know. Don't blush – you are."

_Blush? I am not blushing! _In an attempt to get control of the situation and keep herself from tearing her hair out, she says the first thing that pops into her mind, "Yes, you're! You're – you're quite handsome when you smile like that! Yes, quite. Wait-" _I'm such an idiot. _She feels her cheeks heat up more as he gets up from his throne and raises an eyebrow at her. _Oh no you don't – just because you're handsome doesn't mean you can just wipe away my anger with you. _But she sees _him _blushing now, and she thinks that maybe what she said wasn't so dumb after all. "Now you're blushing," she says, and she can't help the triumphant note from entering her voice.

"I am not," he says, brows furrowing. She doesn't notice how close he's gotten – she's too caught up in their game of teasing, and she knows she should be angry with him, but at the moment she just feels a light buzz at the back of her neck, and her anger be damned – she's going to have fun tormenting her kidnapper.

"Yes," she says, and she feels a smile tugging at the edge of her lips, "you are."

"Gods don't blush," he says, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"You do." She's smiling full-on now, and it's the first time she notices that he's really quite close, and she hears his breath catch.

"If I'm handsome when I smile, you're beautiful when you smile." Somehow, he's managed to walk up to her so that their faces are inches apart. She can see his icy-blue eyes from underneath his bangs, feel his cool breath on her skin, and before she knows what she's doing, she grabs his face in her hands and kisses him.

Hades completely stunned. He didn't even realize that he had gotten so closer to her, being too distracted with their banter, and being too relieved that his side had stopped throbbing. And now, with her lips on his, he's completely frozen like a statue. His eyes flutter when he feels her lips begin to move against his, and he reciprocates, wrapping his arms around her, and nudging her lips slightly apart. His head starts to swim as he hears her gift a soft moan and feels her hands begin to run through his hair. And when he feels her tongue on his, he practically feels his skin set on fire, her rubbing hands sending jolts of electricity down his spine. He pulls her closer and feels her soft body against his, her chest on him, _rubbing_ on him, making him groan and he knows that things are moving way too fast. He stops, his breathing ragged and his head resting against her neck, and he realizes that's pushed her against the dark wall of the throne room. It's then that he notices two coins are missing from his coin pouch. _Distracting me to get money for Charon, hmm? Clever girl._ Hades feels the corner of his mouth turn up. _Clever, but_ y_ou won't get far. _

He steps back from her, sees her swollen lips and disheveled hair, and he shuts his eyes, because he knows that if he looks at her, he'll take her right against the wall – and that is _not_ how he is going to treat her.

He clears his throat and turns around. " Dinner should be ready by now. Would you like to join me?"

"No, Hades. It's been a long day – I think I'll turn in for the night."

"As you wish." He nods and walks away, disappearing into the shadows. And, when he's finally gone, Persephone smiles to herself. She holds up two gold coins – drachmans. Her grin grows wider as she thinks, _Now I have money to pay the boatman. And all it took was some kissing of the incredibly handsome Lord of the Dead. _She frowns to herself. _Incredibly handsome? Don't lose your head here, Persephone. _But still, she can't help but feel a little light-headed. She's only kissed a man once before, and it was _him_, but this time was incredibly different – and much, much more pleasurable. In fact, when he had hugged her close and pushed her against the wall, she had actually found herself _enjoying_ the feel of him against her body. She furrows her brows. _None of that matters. He kidnapped me, and tonight I will pay Charon and make my escape. I will return to my mother. And Hades will not stand in my way. _

A/N: WOO HOO! ANOTHER WEEKLY UPDATE, MY LOVELIES! I hope ya'll liked this chapter. It's a rather long one – well for me, anyway. But, um, yeah. So leave reviews! :D I wuv dem! :D


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

Ares was having a wonderful day. He had just seen a spectacular fight between Poseidon and Athena, filled with flying ichor and sword clashes, when Aphrodite had sneaked up behind him, running a palm up and down the length of his abdomen – right in front of Hephaestus! Ares wasn't sure which was greater – the fight between Poseidon and Athena, or the fact that Aphrodite was inviting him to her bedchamber right in front of her husband. It was quite a fantastic feeling, made even more fantastic with the gods' ever-growing irritation and unrest since Demeter's absence. Ares could smell conflict brewing underneath the surface, and he wanted to pound his chest with feral pride when he felt Aphrodite making light traces down the length of his ribs. Blood and sex: these were the things that pleased him the most, and they were coming together in a most _delicious_ way.

Well, they _were _coming together when Dionysus suddenly – and rather rudely – interrupted Aphrodite's ministrations. Ares would flayed him alive if it weren't the look in his eyes. It was a look Ares had seen before , one that showed Dionysus knew something – something that could lead to conflict…and maybe even _war_. Ares felt his heart begin to pump with anticipation, and he had promptly left Aphrodite a confused mess in the middle of the meal hall with the other gods, as well as a furious-looking Hephaestus.

Now he's in the courtyard eying a very smug-looking Dionysus, and he can't help but feel a little bit irritated. He had had his blood, and now he was craving the sex that came with it. _I could have been in bed with Aphrodite by now…_ He feels his mouth curl up in anger.

"Alright, bastard, what is this about?"

Dionysus gives him a crooked smile, "Calm yourself, Brother-"

Ares cuts him off with a growl, "I am the god of war. Being 'calm' is not my strong suit."

Dionysus leans against the statue of Zeus, taking a drink from his ever-present goblet. "You relish conflict, I know. Honestly, it's a beautiful thing, war …Feral…Passionate. _Dangerous_. I imagine your body feels like it's had a thousand sips of the best wines in the world."

Ares gives a cruel grin at that, his scars scrunching across his tanned face. "Not quite."

Dionysus looks up, his expression turning dreamy as he takes another sip of wine. "Ah, no matter. Would you like some wine?"

Ares shakes his head and Dionysus gives a small scowl. "Fine, then. More for me again."

"Again?"

Dionysus turns his head back towards Ares, a mischievous smile playing at his lips. " I had a visit from our most hated uncle yesterday."

Ares feels his brows go up in surprise – it wasn't often that the Lord of the Dead went to the surface world to pay a god a visit. "Hades came to you yesterday?"

Dionysus happily nods his head up and down, the dark curls in his hair flopping in the air relentlessly.

_So that was it? This fool comes and drags me away from Aphrodite because he gets a visit from the family recluse? Idiot. _ Ares shakes his head in disgust and turns to leave. _Maybe Aphrodite will be a little lenient with me…_

"Wait Ares! Wait! There's more for me to tell you!"

Now Ares _really_ wants to flay his brother. That's twice he's managed to keep him from Aphrodite. "Dammit, Dionysus! What the fuck is it now?"

Dionysus grins. "He was different, Ares. There was something wrong with him."

Ares rolls his eyes and says, "Of course there was something wrong. He's Hades – Lord of the Dead and master of the Underworld."

"No, no, you don't understand. It was his _expression_."

Ares snorts. "What, did he give you a loving smile? Hades never has an expression – his eyes are as dead as his subjects. The only time he's ever shown _anything_ was at the last winter solstice, when choked Demeter – which, I may add, was one of the _greatest _things I've seen in my life. Besides that, the man's a lifeless machine – everyone knows this." Ares feels a chill run down his spine at the memory of the god's cold eyes boring into him, making him feel as though his soul had been taken to the very depths of Tartarus with his cold stare. He suppresses a shudder.

Dionysus shakes his head and gives a big grin. "Not this time. This time he was _angry_. And I could see it, too."

Ares can feel himself losing what little patience he has. "Are you going to make a point anytime soon? Because I have a lovely lady waiting for me, and I'm sure you know it's rude to keep a woman waiting."

"You don't know much of subtly and build-up, do you Brother?"

"Hurry up."

"Fine." Dionysus is jumping and down with excitement and it looks like he's about to burst. Gleefully, he says, " Hades, the dark Lord of the Underworld…is going mad."

Ares pauses at that. _Going mad…_He had never liked Hades, but it wasn't for the reasons most of the other gods didn't like him. No, it wasn't because the man had gotten the short end of the stick, and it wasn't even for the fact that he never had any sort of emotion on his face – it was the fact that the man was so damn orderly – the fact that he stayed away from conflict. From what his father had told him, Hades ruled his kingdom with an iron fist, judging the wicked and the good and above all else, keeping the balance in the afterlife of mortals. And, as such, he wasn't quick to anger – or at least quick to _show_ anger – and he mostly stayed away from godly conflicts, though there was one time…

* * *

"Father, why is Hades not allowed on Olympus most of the year?" Ares asked. He was young, genuinely young – around eight or nine years old, his copper hair cropped short. He was practicing his sword skills on a dummy in the courtyard while his father had been quietly giving pointers from behind. He heard Zeus give a low sigh and turned back to look at him.

"You ask me so many questions sometimes that I wonder if you're the god of curiosity and not the god of war."

"No, I _am_ the god of war," Ares said, moving his wooden sword to swiftly hit the side of the dummy's head. He turned and gave a big, toothy smile at his father and heard him laugh.

"Ah yes, the pint-sized god of war…Ouch!"

"I am not pint-sized, Father!" Ares had started to climb on Zeus' back and hit his head lightly with the sword. "I am the god of war!"

Zeus laughed lightly as he slung his son from his shoulder and into his lap. "Yes, yes, you're the god of war. Now do you want me to tell you the story?"

"What story?"

Zeus rolled his eyes, "Not so smart, eh? The story about Hades."

Ares pumped his chest with the sword and yelled, "The god of war does not need to be smart! All he needs is to be stronger and quicker than his opponent."

"Oh son…I fear that there's _much_ I still need to teach you…"

"You can teach me later- tell me about Hades!"

Zeus' expression turned grim. "Very well. Will you promise not to interrupt?" Ares quickly nodded his head and Zeus shifted him on his lap before beginning.

"It happened when we were very, very young gods. The war with the Titans had only ended only a few years prior, and the mortals began thriving because of Prometheus' gift of fire. Hades had grown…distant. Over the ten years of the Titan war, your uncle and I had grown quite close. I had saved him from eternal imprisonment from within our father-"

"Cronus? You mean Cronus, right?"

"Ares, be quiet. You promised not to interrupt."

"Sorry, Father…"

Zeus gave a heavy sigh as he continued, " It's alright. Now where was I? Oh yes, Cronus. I had saved him, and the rest of your aunts and uncles - and your mother, too – from imprisonment within Cronus. They were all grateful, but none so more than Hades. I saved him, and he had given me his undying loyalty in return. Or, I thought it was undying, until Hades led a charge against Olympus that put the Titans to shame- Poseidon has never come close to the damage he caused in that siege."

"Wait. Hades went to _war_? Against **_YOU_**? But – but _why_? " Ares had never been so confused in his life. He had felt excitement over the fact that there was war, but there was a negative feeling pulling at his heart.

Zeus ruffled his son's hair. "Ares, men do strange things over love. They fight, they kill, they… _marry_." Zeus had said the word with a hint of distaste. He eyed his son, "Why do you look so disappointed?"

"Love is a stupid reason to go to war. War over the love of a woman is a waste." Ares crossed his arms. "When I get older, war will be fought for riches and glory – not _women_."

Zeus gave a hardy laugh at his son's words and stood up. Looking back, he gave one last glance back at Ares before saying, "Ares, when you get older, you'll realize that the greatest wars are fought not over riches or glory, but pain and loss." And with that, the god walked away, leaving the young Ares to his thoughts.

* * *

Ares smiles at the memory, and is pulled out of his thoughts when he smells Dionysus' breath. _Too close, you fool. _He gives Dionysus a rough push back, but the god doesn't seem to notice in his giddiness.

"Ares, there's more, and I know you'll like this. He told me," Dionysus takes a quick breath, "He told me that when he loses control, and falls into the madness, he'll, he'll-"

"_He'll_?" Ares gives an irritated huff.

"He'll **_destroy_** Olympus!"

"He'll _try_ to…but that means…"

"Yes," Dionysus says, bouncing up and down, "They'll be _glorious_ war, fueled by _glorious_ **_madness_**."

Ares finds himself repeating Dionysus' words. "Glorious war…" He feels his lips turn up in a malicious grin as he thinks more on it. "Well, Dionysus, I think we should toast to this meeting of our two greatest passions – war and madness."

"And wine, don't forget wine."

Ares nods, "And wine, of course, Brother." Looking into his goblet, he smirks at his reflection. _The greatest wars are fought over pain and loss, are they Father? Well, what about anger and madness._ He gives a loud chuckle as he gulps down his wine. _Show me what you're made of, Uncle._

* * *

Hecate has her arms crossed, one side of her mouth turned up.

"And just what," she says, eyes narrowing and smile growing wider, "do you think you're doing?"

"Um, escaping?"

"I see. And how is that working out for you, young one?"

Persephone coughs, "Not too well."

Hecate smirks, "Not too well indeed."

* * *

Persephone had stayed up for several hours until she was sure Hades was asleep and the servants were in their quarters. Actually, she wasn't sure if Hades was asleep, exactly, but the screams and the rumbling palace gave her the indication that he was at least…distracted with something. So, when her room began to shake, she had quietly slipped from underneath her covers and moved into the hallway, tip-toeing her way across the bronze floor so as not to make a sound.

That's when she fell, hard, landing right on her rump. The shaking palace had caused her to slip and lose her footing. "Owwww…" she said, rubbing her bruised behind.

After that, she had wound her way through the labyrinthine hallways of the palace and found herself, tragically, hopelessly lost. "Ugh, Hades_ would_ have to make things more difficult by having a palace bigger than Olympus," she groaned in her frustration.

That's when she heard the scream again, deep and gruff and in anguish, and _close_. She almost fell again when the palace gave another earthquake –like rumble. She cautiously turned her head to the side to see two gigantic obsidian doors adorned with golden leaf designs and scattered rubies. Persephone felt her breath catch – they were a rather magnificent sight. Then she felt herself begin to lose her balance as another rumble shook the palace and caught herself on the doors' large handles. She heard another cry come from inside the room, but instead of scream it was a groan. _What in Zeus's name is he doing in there? _Persephone felt herself gripped with curiosity, her knuckles growing white on the door handles. _What are you doing, Persephone? If you go into his room, he'll take that as an invitation – especially after that kiss you gave him today…_Another scream, and she couldn't get past her curiosity._ Maybe if I just take one little peek…_

She lightly pushed the door open, and was stunned by what she saw, the room illuminated by light blue flames hanging on torches. At first, she had seen Hades' bare chest, which would have been a rather pleasing sight - with the toned, lean muscle rippling under his skin – had it not been for the giant black spot on his side that seemed to undulate and expand underneath his skin.

She walked closer, her curiosity overcoming her common sense once again and peered down at Hades. _He's still asleep…_She leaned down, and upon closer inspection she noticed that he was drenched in sweat, and that he was gripping his sheets. When she finally made her way up to his face, she saw that his jaw was painfully clenched and his eyes were screwed shut. She looked back down at the dark mark on his side, saw it expand upward and heard Hades hiss. _What** is** that? _Hades' breathing had become ragged, and now she could hear him saying lowly talking to himself within a mixture of grunts and hisses.

She saw him take his hand from his sheet and grip his side. _He's in so much…pain. _She had never seen a god act like this before. She knew that gods _could_ feel pain – she had felt it herself when she had cut her foot while running through some fields…but the way Hades was acting – writhing and groaning – he looked, well, mortal.

Heard him grunt something, and Persephone wasn't sure, but she had though she had heard him say "please". She also wasn't sure what he was saying please for, but before she knew it, she had reached her hand out to touch the dark mark on his side and instantly recoiled her hand at the burning sensation. _Well that was…unexpected. _She almost screamed when she felt one of his hands move to grip her wrist but saw that his eyes were still screwed shut. _Alright, Persephone, time to go. _She gently pushed his hand back and ran out of the room so fast you'd think she was an Olympic runner. She heard another scream and felt the palace once again rumble, but was careful not to lose her footing.

And somehow, someway she had found her way out of the palace and eventually to the river Styx. _I'm almost home, Mother. I'm almost home. _

"Charon!" she called, her voice cracking. "Charon, come here! I have money for you!"

"Is that so?"

She turned around and saw for the first time in great detail the ferryman. His eyes were white, and cloudy, as well as his beard, and his face was a set of cruel lines and wrinkles. His arms were crossed, and Persephone could tell that he was a rather skinny man.

Clearing her throat, she said, "Yes, I have two drachmans."

He threw his head back and gave an evil laugh. " Hades is the richest of the gods and he pays me well. Do you really think I care for your drachmans, girl? The drahcmans you stole from my king, no doubt." His voice sounded like knives clashing against each other.

"But – but you ferry souls for drachmans!"

"I ferry souls for drachmans, yes. Not goddesses who my king has specifically ordered not to ferry. And specifically given me many riches so that I obey his very direct order."

"Hades…knew I would escape?"

Charon laughs at the shock on her face. " Ha! Do you take the king for a fool, girl? He's taken every precaution. There's a reason that heroes who come here rarely make it out – Hades doesn't let them leave. And, you may not be a hero," he said, roaming his lecherous gaze over her body, "but the king is interested in you. And I can see why."

Persephone crossed her arms then. "So you're not going to help me, then?"

Charon cocked his head to the side as if to feign contemplation and then gave her a big grin, his missing teeth making his face all the more grotesque. "No, sweetheart, I'm not."

"Fine."

Before Charon could defend himself, Persephone roughly pushed him into the river and scrambled atop his boat. She heard him making sputtering noises behind her as she began to row. She made it about fifteen feet when she heard a familiar voice yell something from behind her, and she felt tree trunks begin to grow around her feet and bind her.

A woman walking out of the shadows and glared at her. "And just what," she asked, eyes narrowing, "do you think you're doing?"

* * *

Hecate can't help but smile at the girl. It was, after all, a valiant attempt. _I like this one…Hades has picked a fighter._

"Well, it doesn't look like you're going to be able to escape now." She gives Persephone a small grin.

Persephone rolls her eyes and says, "I can see that, Hecate."

"So, since you're in no shape to escape, would you like to join me for tea?" Hecate holds out her hand, her expression kind.

"Is there anything else I can possibly do now?" Persephone just wants to get into a ball and cry. _So close… I was **so close**. _

Hecate gives her a sympathetic look. "Come, my dear. You can get some sleep in my home. I know sleeping in the palace can be quite jarring at night… especially nowadays."

Persephone looks up, sees the kindness in Hecate's dark eyes, and she surprises herself when she says, ever so quietly, "Ok, Hecate. I'll go with you."

A/N: Ta –da! Another chapter. God, I'm sporadic. There's probably a lot of mistakes in this one in terms of typos 'n stuff, so I'll try and fix that later, but I was pretty excited so I decided to post. As always, leave reviews. :D Also, if you could tell me where you spot a mistake, like a missing word or something, let me know, and I'll fix it. Thankies :D


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

_Your time is running out, Aidoneous. Do you feel yourself cracking? The god of madness even refused to help you…why don't you just… **give in**? I know you **want** this power – I can see it in your heart. You **crave **it. So why not give in and **take** it? Play the villain they all believe you to be… **DESTROY THEM**. _

Hades has his jaw set and his hand is clenched, white-knuckled on his pitchfork. He's in Tartarus, and even though he knows he's dreaming, he feels a great pressure against his chest.

"Show yourself!" he growls, completely and utterly tired of the games Cronus plays in his sleep. A loud chuckle reverberates around him, and he grips his weapon tighter. He feels the black voice slither across his neck. _After all this, you're still quite assertive. I like that, son. I really do. Does your whore like that too? Do you imagine punishing her-_

"**_Enough!_**"

A loud laugh, and Cronus continues, _Come, now, Aidoneous – we both know you lust after her. I could feel your heart racing and pumping like a human's when she kissed you. I could feel your desire for her** sear** through your veins…so why didn't you just **take** her? _

Locking his eyes ground and clenching his fist, Hades doesn't reply to Cronus's question. He's so tired. Tired of his sleepless nights, tired of his pain, tired of his family's loathing of him – everything. Honestly, he just wants to give in, surrender to his father and let the responsibilities and consequences wash over him like his brethren do every day.

Moreover, Cronus is _right_. About _everything_. He _knows_ he doesn't love Persephone, per se – he knows he _likes_ her, at least, and her presence does manage to soothe him and give him comfort in his dreams and… even in his waking hours – but he doesn't _know_ the girl. _I don't know her, but_…_She gives me peace… _Hades feels himself relax until a cold shiver runs through his body. _Your lust **burns **in you like your curse. _Cronus gives a low chuckle, and the sound sends a chill down Hades' back. _When's the last time you were with a woman? Was it that whore – ah, what was her name…Calypso? No, that's not it…Katro-_

"Calliope," Hades says through a harsh whisper. "Her name was Calliope."

_Ah, yes…Calliope. That…**mortal** woman. You fell in love with her and Zeus **took **her from you – he even made **you** send her soul to the pits of Tartarus when he was done. And then he casted you out when you rebelled… Do you really think you still owe him your **loyalty**? _

Hadessnarls, "I've already tried to rebel, and I **_failed_**! What would you have me do?" Silence. "Answer me!" he growls, green flames erupting on his staff. More silence. "**_SHOW YOURSELF AND ANSWER ME_**!"

A man walks out of the shadows, his body forming itself with each step forward. When the man finally comes fully into the green-tinted light cast by the flames, Hades takes a step back.

Cronus smiles coldly, golden eyes flickering in the light. "Hello, son. You look surprised – have you forgotten what I've looked like after all these years?"

Hades frowns. "How could I forget when I see your face every time I look into a mirror?"

Cronus gives another cold smile and walks forward, dark blue robes billowing behind his feet. "I can't deny that you are my son. Though, I don't know where you got those eyes from," Cronus makes a disgusted noise at the back of his throat, "Probably Ouranos."

Cronus walks closer and Hades readies his staff, tongues of green fire coursing down the length of the shaft. Cronus doesn't seem to notice and continues his walk, moving in a circle around Hades.

"You know, Aidoneous," he starts, an amused tone to his voice, "I've always wondered why you never brought her back. You_ know_ you could do it." He continues to work his way around Hades.

"I am responsible for keeping the balance of life and death," Hades says through gritted teeth, his heading turning to follow Cronus's path around him. "Bringing her back would be unnatural."

"Ah, but the gods do many things that are unnatural…Like… Falling in love with mortal whores, for instance."

The flames around Hades' staff grow larger. "You have no right-"

Before Hades can do anything, Cronus rushes up towards him from behind, catching him off-guard and seizing an iron-grip on his right side. "Don't I?" Cronus asks, and Hades lets out a strangled hiss as Cronus squeezes his side. "I have _every_ right, boy." Another squeeze, and Hades is on the verge of crumpling to his knees and passing out. "I saw that whore of yours suffer everyday here. She _pleaded_ for you, boy. And you kept her here for _years_."

"I…had no choice. I – **_argh_**!" Hades sputters out. He's starting to see white bursts in front of his eyes. "I put her in Elysium after the war."

"After you **_failed_**." Cronus squeezes Hades' side again, and for a moment he feels like he's blacked out, but instead he's fallen to his knees; his staff dropped and forgotten at his side. His head falls forward. "…What would you have me do?"

"Give in," Cronus whispers in his ear, and for one quick, fleeting moment, the voice almost sounds kind. Hades knows it's an illusion, but he feels himself start to nod.

"Give in," Cronus says again, his voice coming in waves across the back of Hades' neck.

"Give in," Hades repeats. As Hades continues to nod, he feels his side begin to go numb. He distantly hears a curse behind him.

"Damn that blasted girl!" Cronus says, and his body begins to disintegrate around Hades. "We'll meet again, son-" Cronus's last words are lost as he fully evaporates into shadows, leaving Hades entirely alone to mouth the words "give in" over and over again.

* * *

A/N: Well, this was a rather short chapter, but it was important. I hoped you guys enjoyed it. :D More to come soon. Leave comments as always! :D


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:

"You've really outdone yourself this time, Eros."

Eros looks at his mother, a playful smile on his lips. "I only do the best for you, Mother." He takes out an arrow from his quiver and begins to twirl it in his hands. "You really should have been there when I shot him with the arrow; he was completely clueless. Like a child, really," he moves his fingers to the arrow's tip, "It's not love yet – won't be for a while, if what you told me about Hades is true, but... It's not every day you see the Lord of the Dead's eyes turn black with desire. I haven't seen lust like that in quite a while," his lips curl up, "And no one else seemed to notice."

Aphrodite throws her head back, laughing. Through a contented chuckle, she says, "I knew that silly girl would be just right - took _him_ quite a while to figure it out, though. Eight months, and _then_ he decides to take her! Bah! Men!"

Eros snorts, "Excuse me? Need I remind you that it was me – a man – who helped you with this affair?" His face is set with an indignant glare.

"Oh, my little Eros, I'm sorry," Aphrodite says, moving to ruffle his bronze hair. "You're right – if it wasn't for you, my plan would've never been set in motion."

Eros bats her hand away. He gives her an irritated grunt, "What's this plan of yours, anyway?"

Aphrodite takes an arrow from the quiver. Tracing her fingertips down the shaft, she begins, "Eros, the gods underestimate me because of the role I play within the world…They underestimate me even though I am descended from Ouranos himself."

"Well then they are fools."

"Yes," Aphrodite says bitterly, "Yes they are. No one seems to understand love's hold on war…As for my plan-" her eyes gleam, "- just know that it ends with the crowning of a new king."

* * *

Persephone wakes with a start when she feels cold hands on her shoulders.

"Get off me, Hades!" she screams, her words coming out panicked and garbled in her daze.

"Persephone," a woman's voice says, "Persephone, it's me. It's Hecate."

That calms her down, and she begins to relax back into the bed.

"Hecate." Her green eyes flash as she studies the room, dark cave walls illuminated with glowing fauna and leaves.

Persephone rubs her eyes as she turns her head to face Hecate again.

"Where am I?" she asks.

"Where are you?" Hecate standings and lifts her arms out. "Why," she twirls, "you're in my humble home."

"In the Underworld."

Hecate laughs, "Of course, my dear. Where else would my home be?"

"I was praying that it would be somewhere on the surface."

Another laugh, and Hecate moves to touch a patch of glowing blue mushrooms on the wall. "Praying? Who does a god pray to, my dear?"

Persephone looks down, and with her eyes watering and her voice beginning to crack, she rasps, "My father."

Hecate slowly turns to look at her, her fingers still tracing lines across the tops of the mushrooms. "Your father?" she clucks her tongue, "Your father has no power here, my Queen."

Persephone's head shoots up, her eyes wide and her red hair wild. Her hands gripped tight onto her dress, her voice barely a whisper, she asks, " What did you call me?"

"I'm sorry?"

She stands up. "What. Did. You. Call. Me?"

Hecate turns to fully face her. She bows her head slightly, "My Queen, of course."

"I am not your Queen."

"Well not yet, my lady, but you will be-"

"I AM NOT YOUR QUEEN!"

Persephone collapses back onto the bed, throwing her arm over her eyes and beginning to cry. "I am not your Queen! And I'll NOT marry your tyrant, good-for-nothing King!" Hecate hurries over to the bed and just barely manages to keep herself from making a surprised squeak when Persephone grabs her by the waist and begins to cry into her belly. "I'll not do it, I'll not do it, I'll not do it…"

Hecate, hesitant at first, lightly pats her head. "There, there, my girl, there, there…Everything will be alright." At this, Persephone begins to cry more.

"Shhh, it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you."

Persephone grabs Hecate's waist harder and cries into her robes, her voice muffled and raspy. "I just want to go home. Please, just let me leave."

Hecate continues to gently pat the top of Persephone's head. _Don't say 'Queen', Hecate; it'll just upset her. _

"Now, my girl, you know I can't do that." She feels Persephone grab her waist tighter.

"Please…"

Hecate manages to remove Persephone's arms from her waist and moves to kneel in front of her until the two are at face-level. She puts her hands on Persephone's shoulders.

" Now look," she says, doing her best to make her voice as gentle and soothing as possible, " you may not see it now, but Lord Hades…He is a good man. A stubborn man, unyielding, and sometimes a downright pain in…well, you get the idea." Hecate gives a small smile, "But he _is_ a good man. And, if I recall correctly, I saw you kissing him rather passionately yesterday."

"He kidnapped me."

Hecate looks down at that. Clearing her throat, she says, "Yes well, the King has been put into a position where…_Unsavory_ decisions have had to be made for the good of the realm. For the good of all the gods, really."

Persephone gives her an incredulous look. " 'Unsavory decisions'? He _kidnapped_ me! And I'll have you know that I kissed him on _purpose_! I did it to steal a drachman and make my _escape _across the Styx and now-"

"And now here we are," Hecate sighs, "My dear, there is much here that you do not yet understand. What Lord Hades does is for the good of the realm."

"No, _you_ don't seem to understand, Hecate. Do you know that the first night I was here, he almost _raped _me? Was that going to be for the 'good of the realm' as well?"

Hecate's eyes flash up. "He almost _what_?"

Persephone gives a morose giggle. "You heard me. He would have taken me like a dog, were it not for some last-minute sense of decency."

Hecate sits back, her grey eyes almost in a daze. "That's impossible. The King would never do that…He is not…Unless…He is getting worse."

Persephone narrows her eyes. "Getting worse? What exactly is going on with him, Hecate? "

Hecate shakes her head and sighs, "I'm afraid I can't tell you that, my dear. It is not my place to tell you what the King's affliction is."

"Can I make a guess that it's insanity?"

Hecate smiles at her. _At the rate things are going, you won't be too far from the truth. _She hears Persephone's stomach growl and looks up at the girl, grey eyes kind a caring. "Would you like something to eat?" she asks.

"…The food of the Underworld?"

Hecate gives a small chuckle, "You need not worry about that, my girl. We'll have ambrosia. How does that sound?"

Persephone's stomach growls in response and Hecate sees her blush.

She stands up and offers Persephone a hand. "Come now," she says, her smile growing wider and making crinkles at the corner of her eyes, "I have just what you need."

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update guys. I really have no excuse. I started watching Breaking Bad and Rome, and sort of spiraled into a massive videogame-induced coma which I got after playing through Mass Effect 3. Some adult I am, huh? I also read a book series – Chaos Walking, by Patrick Ness (which is really good- you guys should check it out)Well anyways, leave comments and such. I've notice while writing this that the narration has a bit of a distancing effect. I think in the future, I'm not going to write like this. But anyways, yeah. Leave comments and reviews! :D I'll try to have another chapter up shortly.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

"Give in-"

A loud sound in the distance.

Pounding. A headache…Pain in his side, pain in his head.

"Give in…" A voice - _his_ voice - sounds far off and detached. The pounding in the distance grows louder.

"Give in."

A voice joins in with his.

"My lord."

"Give…in…"

The voice grows louder, closer.

"My lord!"

" I c- can't. I can't do this. I have to…give in…"

"My **_lord!_**"

When his eyes snap open, he's greeted with the ghostly image of a shade. He pinches the bridge of his nose and lets out a low groan.

"What is it?" he asks, his voice raspy with sleep.

"My lord Hades, your mother is here. She has requested your presence."

"Oh goody," Hades groans. He rubs his eyes and sits up on the bed, "Fetch me my robes, shade."

The servant nods, "Of course, my lord. But sir, may I make a suggestion?" Hades responds with a small nod.

"It would do you well to shave, my lord. You've been looking rather …unkempt lately. I mean no disrespect of course."

He gives the shade a cold stare and she promptly runs out. Rubbing his neck, he walks into his washroom and heads towards the mirror.

He looks at his own reflection, and though he's never enjoyed looking at his face because of its resemblance to Cronus's, he finds that he hates his image even more now.

He sees his own face, hair unkempt and in front of his eyes, and the makings of a very scruffy beard on his face, reaching down his neck. There are dark circles under both of his eyes, and for a minute he thinks his face his beginning to reflect his age like a mortal's. He lets out a small sigh, takes out a bronze razor, and begins to trim the hair on his face.

* * *

He's dressed simply. A dark tunic, laced with some silver thread at the bottom. Regal, but simple. He's trimmed his beard, though it's still there – slightly more than a 5 o'clock shadow. His hair is a mess, but that's always the case. He at least _looks_ presentable. Somewhat.

The real problem is that he feels wretched – not only has his side been burning even more since his dream the previous night, but his skull has been throbbing constantly as well. _Damn Hecate's potions and their side-effects, _he thinks.

The less he sleeps, the more exhausted he is. The more he sleeps, his side burns. The more potions he takes, he will get headaches that range from 5-minute irritations to 5-day long agony fests. And to top it all off, now his mother is in his palace.

He tries to stifle a groan when he sees her lounging in his throne, but she manages to hear him.

"Ah, my son!" Rhea gets up and holds her arms out wide in front of her.

"Mother," he says, his voice cold, "what a surprise. I'm guessing Charon let you in. What are you doing here?"

"Now, now my son. Is that any way to treat your own mother?"

"It is when you've been sitting on my throne."

She gives a small, uncomfortable laugh, "I don't remember you being so rude. Are you sure you're not Ares's father?"

Hades crosses his arms, "Make your point and leave."

"Hades, I…"

"I'm waiting."

"Damn it, son! What have I done to earn your ire so?"

His eyes narrow at that, and in the low light of the throne room his glare becomes truly terrifying.

"Many things," he hisses.

"Hades, I'm worried about you. Zeus, Poseidon, Hera – we all are. Your family is worried about you." His mother moves close so that they're only about a foot across from each other.

He scoffs at that, "We're gods! What causes _you_ to worry about _me_?"

"Hades," Rhea says, reaching out to touch his face. He flinches away from it.

He rudely brushes past her towards his throne and sits. "You certainly didn't seem _worried_ about _me_ when you let Cronus_ swallow_ me whole."

"Hades, please, I –"

She's walking back to him now, the first signs of tears beginning to form in her eyes. He knows he's hurting her now, but he just can't bring himself to care. Seeing her sit casually in his throne; her arms opening to greet him in a loving gesture – it's angered him to his breaking point.

"You certainly didn't seem worried about _me_ when Zeus suggested that we draw lots for Cronus's kingdom, which was rightfully **_mine_** by birth."

"Hades! Stop! You're hurting me!" She really is starting to cry now.

"You most certainly didn't seem to give a _damn_ about me when Zeus learned that I had intended to make a mortal woman my queen and so to stop me he killed her. He KILLED her! Right in _front _on me!"

She falls to her knees and buries her face in her hands.

"Hades, _please_!"

"And then," he stands up from his throne, " when I go to war to claim my _rightful_ throne on Olympus…When I go to take revenge on Zeus – my own _brother_ who **_wronged_** me, who I was ever **_loyal_** to – you **_abandoned_ **me. And when he banished me from Olympus for my actions – a punishment Poseidon has **_never_** had to suffer because his attempts for the throne never get past the first gate - you never spoke to me again. Your son. Your _first _son! So _now _you come to me," he takes a step down from his throne, " and you tell me that **_you're_**worried about **_me_?**"

"Hades!"

He takes a few more steps down and moves right in front of his mother. He crouches down and roughly grabs her chin, turning her golden eyes – Zeus's eyes..._Cronus's_ eyes – up towards his. His side starts to burn, hot and searing.

"**_Don't you think, Mother_**," he hisses, his every word laced with bitterness and venom, "**_that maybe the time for worrying has passed you by_**?" He moves his head to whisper in her ear, "**_That maybe, you're too late_**?"

"My son," Rhea whispers, her voice raw and strangled. "I never want to see your face again. Never, do you understand me? Never. Get. Out," he growls.

"Do you know why you will never be king of the gods?" She imitates him by speaking into his ear, "It's because you're _exactly_ like your father."

"**_GET. OUT!_**" he screams, only to find that she's no longer there, but disappeared into a light mist.

Puffs of smoke appear at his right and Charon walks out from them.

"My lord," Charon bows, "You're mother is requesting urgent passage out of the Underworld. Do you wish to keep her here like your young Lady Persephone or-"

"No!"

"I'm sorry, sir?"

"No, Charon. Get her out of here. _Please_. Just get her _out_."

"As you wish, my lord. I also thought I should let you know that Persephone did make an attempt to escape last night."

Hades sits back on his haunches. "And?" he asks, one brow quizzically arching up.

"Well, Hecate stopped her. If not for that she would have probably run into Cerberus at one point-"

Hades cuts him off, "Is she safe?"

"What? Uh, yes, yes, yes. Yes, my lord. Hecate is taking care of her."

"Good."

"Um…Yes sir. Ahh, will that, uh, be all, my lord?"

Hades looks back up at the ferryman, "Did you _want_ something else, Charon?"

Charon holds his hands up in a peaceful gesture, " I was only going to suggest that you take a dip in the hot springs. You know, to relax."

Hades' lips move up a fraction, and for a second Charon thinks he sees his dark master smile.

"You know what, Charon," Hades says, his voice having lost all its cruelty and malice it had while he was speaking to his mother moments ago. " I think I may do just that."

"That is, uh…good, sir. I am glad."

"Good," Hades stands up. "Now get back to work and get my mother_ out_ of my kingdom."

"Yes sir," Charon says, disappearing into a cloud of smoke.

_My mother is… too late, _Hades thinks while walking towards the springs, located in the west wing of his palace. _What if Persephone is too? _He begins to disrobe when he gets there. _What if I kidnapped an innocent girl for nothing? What if this was **all** for **nothing**? What if-_

He's cut off from his thoughts with a startled scream and turns his head to the direction of the sound. _Persephone…_He smiles lazily at her … Hecate comes rushing in and starts to mouth 'What's wrong' until she turns to him and stops dead in her tracks, her expression one of extreme embarrassment and amusement ( he's fairly sure that if her skin was a lighter tone, he'd see it turn pink right about now) and then he begins to slowly realize why Persephone screamed.

He's _naked_.

* * *

A/N:

Woot woot, another update! Yay! Coolio. :D Reviews, comments, suggestions, the usual, yeah? Cool guys, thx.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19:

_Embarrassing_. That's the word for it.

Right now, Persephone can think of a million other things she'd rather be doing than be in this awkward situation.

It's not like she hasn't seen a naked man before…well, she _hasn't_, but she_ has_ seen statues of various gods in Olympus – all naked. So this really shouldn't bother her.

And honestly, after her initial shock wears off at seeing the feared Lord of the Dead in nothing but, well, nothing, she feels her nervousness begin to subside. Really, she's more embarrassed for _him_ now than she is for herself. She keeps her eyes locked on his face – _wow, it actually looks like he's shaved…a little_ – and from the corner of her eye she notices him start to grab a part of his robe to cover his lower bits. She sees him reach for what may be a towel located off to his side. As he does this, her eyes begin to trail down his chest, admiring the sculpted muscle there, making their way to the dark splotch on his right side.

This is the first time that she has gotten a very good look at it. The color of it is as black as midnight, its size and shape continuously changing with tendrils of black creeping across Hades' skin. She remembers touching it; the searing sensation it brought to her hand…the lingering pain of a burn mark it left.

_Is this what Hecate was talking about? His 'affliction'?_

"Hecate," she hears his deep voice say.

Hecate moves herself in front of Persephone. "My lord," she says, her voice sputtering with embarrassment, "I apologize for this intrusion. I was just bringing young Persephone here to relax and-"

"Hecate," Hades says, his voice slightly amused, but Hecate continues to ramble on.

"And, well, you see…I just thought it was a good idea, since the hot springs are a nice place to –"

"Hecate," Hades says again, moving closer to the both of them (when Persephone pops her head up to look over Hecate's shoulder, she notices that he's put on some sort of towel over his waist). "It's really quite alright," he finishes.

"My lord?" Hecate asks, somewhat surprised.

"Hecate really, it's okay. You just caught me at an awkward time is all." Persephone notices that he keeps his head a little down – _He really **is** embarrassed. _She feels her lips turn slightly up in a small smile - which she immediately widens despite her _very_ conscious decision not to do so - when he lifts his head a tad and gives her a nervous smile with a corner of his mouth. _Damn him! _she thinks. _He's always getting me with that smile of his. Or half-smile. What is wrong with me? If I had half a brain I wouldn't even be in this mess and-_ She begins to pout at him and she hears him give an amused snort.

"My, my Persephone," he chuckles lightly, "even after the grand show I've given you you're still upset with me?"

Persephone moves out from behind Hecate and walks up close to him, all the while resisting the urge to poke him in the chest with her finger.

"Please," she says, doing her best to put up an unimpressed tone, "I've seen grander shows from satyrs." She thinks she hears Hecate suck in a breath from behind, but whether it is in amusement or fear, she doesn't know.

"Oh now you've gone and hurt my pride, Persephone."

"Good," she says, inspecting her nails and looking off to the side. _That'll serve him right-_

Her train of thought cuts off when she sees his hand grip his right side; she sees him recoil his hand and hiss.

"My lord!" Hecate says, running up to him. "Have you had any of your…elixir today?"

He shakes his head 'no'. Persephone sees Hecate take out a medium sized green bottle and hand it to Hades. He drinks it immediately.

"Better, my lord?"

"Yes, Hecate," he nods. "Thank you."

"How are the headaches?"

"I'm fine, Hecate."

"Are you sure, my lord? Because-"

"I'm _fine_, Hecate."

"If you're certain-"

"I'm **_certain_**." He says it with so much finality and conviction that Hecate walks away and gives a small bow.

"Understood, my lord."

"Now leave me," he says. Persephone begins to turn around with Hecate towards the hallway leading out of the room.

"Not you, Persephone." She stops and turns around, feeling Hecate's presence move farther and farther away with each passing second.

He walks over to Persephone and awkwardly tries to hold the towel up on his hips. "Look," he says, running a hand through his dark hair, "I came here to relax as well. Would you…care to join me?"

Persephone looks back towards Hecate but feels her heart fall when she cannot spot her. She defiantly looks up towards Hades. "Do I have a choice?" she asks.

He sighs and turns around, taking off the towel and walking into the water. Persephone feels her cheeks heat up again and she does her best to keep from staring at his behind until his entire body is the water and she can't see a thing. He swims over to a small outcropping in the water and sits. Running his hand through his hair again, _( he's been doing that a lot – does that mean he's nervous?_) he clears his throat and says, "Actions speak louder than words, Persephone. I know that. And because of that, I know that you must hate me, because my actions towards you have been utterly disgusting. For that, I am sorry." He pauses to look up and see if she is still listening. When she crosses her arms and nods for him to go on, he rubs the back of his neck and continues, "I have been put in a rather…compromising position as of late. As such, I've been forced to make decisions I normally wouldn't-"

"Like kidnapping me?" She narrows her eyes, and Hades clears his throat once again.

"Yes," he continues, "Like kidnapping you."

"Why, Hades? Why do all this? And what's with that – that **_thing_** on your side? And your late night screaming? And that 'elixir' you're constantly drinking? Just what in all of the cosmos is going on around here?"

Hades shuts his eyes and groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Peace, woman, peace! Do you always badger people with questions like this?"

"I don't _know_, Hades, do _you_ always deflect and _not _give people answers when they ask you specific questions?" She walks over to where he is sitting and leans over him and – _thank the gods_ – she can only clearly see the top of his chest and nothing lower, the rest of his body obscured by the constantly churning water. He turns his head to look at her, dark brows furrowing over his eyes, "Must everything turn into an argument with you?"

She grins down at him, "Of course." She stops grinning when she sees his expression turn from one of irritation to a mischievous smirk.

"Well, in that case," he says, placing his hands by her feet outside of the warm pool, "no."

She cocks her head to the side. "No?"

He immediately grabs her ankles, "You have _no_ choice." Realization dawns on her face as she looks down at him.

"You wouldn't dare," she whispers.

He smiles up at her, a big, playful, beautiful, genuine smile that makes her forget what he's about to do. "Oh yes I would," he says as he pulls Persephone - kicking, screaming and laughing - into the pool with him.

* * *

"So what's our plan, Ares?"

Ares leans back in his bed and stares up into the ceiling. Dionysus has not left him alone since their toast, and he is beginning to feel the last bits of his patience fading.

"Plan, Dionysus? I wasn't aware we _needed_ a plan. In fact, I was under the impression that Hades would set fire to Olympus all by _himself_."

Dionysus takes another sip of wine as his words begin to swirl,"Brother, brother, brother. Ofcourseweneeda plan! I mean, EVER know?"

Ares makes a disgusted noise at the back of his throat. "I think you've had too much wine, Dionysus."

He hears Dionysus make a hiccup sound, "Why, 'hic', do you, 'hic' care? Youloveconflict, so 'hic' whywould 'hic' thisbother 'hic' you?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE ANNOYING, DAMMIT!" Ares screams. He gets off the bed and knocks Dionysus down, instantly straddling him.

"Oh yeah? Well, 'hic' nobody likes you. You're 'hic' on par 'hic' with 'hic' Hades in the 'Worst…'hic' Hated 'hic' –excuse me – Gods' department."

"WHY YOU LITTLE!" Ares raises his fist-

"Ares, shut 'hic' up. I hear 'hic' Father." Ares pauses for a moment…He hears the distinct sound of his father's voice as well as…Aphrodite? He gets up off of Dionysus and moves to press his ear towards the door, hearing bits and pieces of a muffled argument.

"Ares? Ares 'hic' whataretheysaying?"

"_Shut up_ you damned idiot! I'm _trying_ to listen."

Ares presses his ear close to the door and listens…

_Zeus: Aphrodite, how could you do this? I told you what happened last time he fell for someone! But you just couldn't resist, could you? Now not only is Persephone missing, but so is her mother! We have to do something!_

_Aphrodite: I am the Goddess of Love, Zeus. All I wanted was for Hades to have someone…_

_Zeus: Don't think I don't know you have some sort of design on all of this- Cronus, Hades, Persephone…_

_Aphrodite: I'm sure I don't have the slightest idea of what you mean, Zeus. _

_Zeus: Of course you don't._

_Aphrodite: I must admit, you mentioning Cronus does intrigue me. _

_Zeus: The other gods may take you for a fool, but I know better. I'll be watching you, and make no mistake, if I catch you at whatever it is you're doing, I'll banish you just like I banished Hades._

_Aphrodite: Of course, Zeus. Of that I have no doubt. No if you'll excuse me, I have a rather beautiful love beginning to bloom that I must attend to. _

_Zeus: I'll be watching you, Aphrodite! …I'll be watching you. _

"ARES!"

"**_WHAT?_**"

"What did they say?"

"Well," Ares says, laying back down on his bed, "It looks like there are more players in this game than we thought. And also-"

"Also what?"

Ares snaps his fingers at Dionysus, who is promptly sent whirling through his wall and into the adjacent room (Athena's, to be exact), "Get out of my room."

* * *

A/N: Ta-da! :D Comments, reviews, suggestions, love it, hate it, whatever – leave it in the comments box! KTHX GAUISE, YOU ARE ALL SO FRIGGIN' AWESOME!


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

Ba bump.

Ba bump.

A heartbeat.

_His_ heartbeat.

For a short while, when she is first pulled into the pool, Persephone falls into his chest and she can feel his heart thudding.

She notices that its beat is slow, but also strong. And, for a small moment, she wants to keep her head on his chest and feel the rhythmic sound reverberate through her.

But only for a small moment, because once she gets her bearings together she pushes him away and swims away from him.

She looks back at him and sees that he still has a mischievous quirk to his lips. She doesn't like that look.

"You are such a brute, Hades."

He cocks his head to the side, and smiling, narrows his eyes. "Yes, I suppose I am."

Persephone swims over to the far side of the pool and runs her fingers through her now wet hair.

"Will you answer my questions now?" she asks.

"That depends," he says, staying on his side of the pool. "Will you join me for dinner tonight?"

Persephone glares at him. "You're manipulating me into joining you for dinner?"

He grins at her. "Perhaps."

"You're an ass."

Hades chuckles at that. "Oh Persephone," he laughs, "You wound me."

"You deserve it." She's getting a little bit more than irritated with him now.

"Tell you what, Persephone," he says, swimming over back to the entrance side of the pool, "Join me for dinner tonight, and I will answer every single question you ask me."

Persephone considers this for a moment. _Every single question….But how can I be sure…_She begins to smile as an idea pops into her mind.

"That's all well and good, Hades," she says, matching his mischievous grin. "But I how can I be sure that you'll keep your word?"

His eyebrows go up. _What is she planning?_ he wonders. "I promise you that I will keep my word."

She shakes her head, all the while keeping the grin on her face. "How can I trust the word of a man who has kidnapped me against my will?" She sees him visibly flinch at the word 'kidnapped'.

"That's all I have to give you, Persephone. What would you have me do?" (_What would you have me do? _He's reminded of his dream from the previous night where Cronus told him to give in…A shudder runs through his body at the thought.)

Persephone's grin grows wider. _Got you, Hades. _"Swear it. Swear it on the River Styx that you will answer all of my questions tonight."

Hades narrows his eyes, and for a second Persephone feels fear at the anger she sees in his expression. "So be it," he huffs irritably. "I swear by the River Styx that I will answer all of your questions when you join me for dinner tonight. Now if you'll excuse me," he turns his back to her, "I've some duties that need attending to. Good day, Persephone." He gets up out of the pool and slowly begins to put his clothes on; Persephone stares intently at the darkness on his right side, catching Hades' subtle winces and twitches at each movement of the marking.

Finally, because she wants clarification – she wants to know that her assumptions are true, she says, "That mark on your side – it causes you pain, doesn't it?"

He sighs, putting on the last bits of a fresh dark blue robe over his chest. "More than I can describe, Persephone."

"…What happened to you?"

He smiles softly at her. "Save your questions for tonight, my lady." And with that, he turns and walks down the hallway, his footsteps lightly sounding on the stone floor.

_Save my questions for tonight,_ she smiles to herself. _Alright, Hades, but you'd better be prepared to answer them._

* * *

To say that Rhea is distraught would be an understatement. After she had left the Underworld, she immediately went to Olympus, hoping to speak with her youngest son Zeus. When she had arrived, however, she was greeted with the loud sound of Dionysus crashing into Athena's room and the uproar that followed between the two.

_Dionysus, you idiot! Look what you've done to my room! _

_I swear, it wasn't me, it was A-_

_I saw you do it, you damn sack of wine! Who's going to clean this up?_

_Not me!_

_DIONYSUS!_

Rhea only saw and heard glimpses of the fight, but it was clear that Athena was furious and was going to stay that way for quite some time.

When she finally caught up with her son, (in her distress she had entered his chambers without knocking) she was greeted with the somewhat unpleasant image of Zeus and Hera being rather passionate with each other on the bed. She managed to get the couple's attention by clearing her throat and awkwardly coughing.

"I need to speak with you son," she said.

Zeus made a frustrated sigh. "Can't this wait, Mother?" She shook her head.

"Fine, let me put on a robe."

That was three hours ago, and now Rhea is watching an argument between Poseidon and Zeus.

"You think that just because you rule Olympus you're stronger than me, Zeus?!"

"Oh, I don't think that, dear brother. I _know_ that."

Poseidon growls incoherently and raises his trident; Zeus readies his bolt.

Rhea can't take it anymore.

"Boys!" she yells. "Stop this childish bickering at _once_!" The two gods immediately stop and look at her.

"Yes mother," they simultaneously say. Poseidon glares at Zeus, fiery red curls falling in front of his eyes.

"I hate you," he whispers.

"I love you too, brother," Zeus chuckles back. "Now, Mother, what's wrong?"

"It's about your brother-"

"Well, we all know Poseidon is always causing trouble," Zeus says, laughing. "That's nothing new."

"Very funny," Poseidon grumps.

"No Zeus, your_ other_ brother."

"Hades. You went and visited him?"

"Yes, Zeus. Just like you asked me to do after the solstice…I think he's been deeply disturbed by something…He – he-" Rhea starts to cry. Between sobs, she asks, " What aren't you two telling me?"

The two brothers look at each other. "Nothing," they say again simultaneously.

"Please," she cries, "Please just tell me what's happening!"

"We can't, Mother," Zeus says, looking remorseful. "It will only bring you pain."

"Please," she says, falling to her knees. "I just want you three to be brothers again!" Her crying begins to become uncontrollable, and Zeus holds her. "We will, Mother. I promise."

"Poseidon," he whispers. "Go to the Underworld and speak to Hades. We need to figure out what's going on."

"You want _me_ to go?! Hades already said that Cronus is rising, what more is there to it?"

"Perhaps our father is gaining strength faster than any of us thought. I need you to go and find out."

"Damn it all, why can't you send Hermes?"

Rhea cries louder as their bickering escalates. "Shh, Mother, it's alright…Do you see Hermes here, you fool? Go talk to Hades."

"Fine," Poseidon resentfully says. "I'll do as you command, _my king_."

As he walks out of the main hall, he sees Aphrodite and Ares…_conversing. Well, this is odd, _Poseidon thinks. _I hardly ever see those two actually talking and not…publicly coupling._ Aphrodite waves him over.

"Poseidon! How wonderful to see you, my lord. May I ask where you are headed?"

"To talk with pompous older brother," Poseidon jokes.

Ares grins. "We were just talking about Hades, Uncle."

Much like the relationship between Poseidon and his brother Zeus, the relationship between Ares and his uncle was filled with quite a bit of animosity, which only grew worse as Ares got older.

It all stemmed, Ares guessed, from the fact that he was Zeus's son, and that Poseidon felt a great deal of resentment and scorn for his younger brother. One day, when Ares was still a child, he had grabbed Poseidon's trident while the god wasn't looking and had hid it behind Zeus's throne. Poseidon had searched for days, and when he had finally found it, he decided that he would forever hate Zeus's children - Ares and Athena being the ones he especially came to hate.

"Oh? And why would you be talking about him?" Poseidon asks, cocking a red eyebrow.

Ares looks like he's about to reply when Aphrodite steps in. "We have a proposition for you, Poseidon, one that we think you will quite like."

Poseidon grins. "I'm listening."

* * *

A/N: Ohhh look, an update. Like a month later. Hehe. Sorry guys, but you know how life goes! I am not giving up on this story, though, and I even have a sequel planned for when I finish this one, so stay tuned. Updates will likely be slow going, but they may not be sometimes – just know that I will finish this story, okay. :D As always, leave comments! Tell me what y'all think :)


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

The walls of the cavern are lit with glowing fauna of different colors; as Hades lightly brushes his hands along the damp walls, small glowing mushrooms erupt from the trails his fingers leave. His breath comes out in puffs of mist.

He's anxious.

When he finally reaches the main chamber of the cavern, he bows low.

"Good day, ladies."

"Ah, Lord Hades. What brings the Rich One here?"

"Moirae," he says. "I wish to know my fate."

"Oh, but Hades," Clotho says, never taking her eyes off her work, "surely Hecate told you that we no longer have power over - nor can we discern – your fate."

Hades can feel the words sinking in. "…I control my destiny…." _But how is that possible?_

"My Lord Hades," the other two sisters join in, "you are the master of your fate."

He pauses, thinking."What of Olympus, then? Do you see its future?"

The three sisters shake their heads. "The path of Olympus is obstructed," Lachesis says.

Hades frowns. "Obstructed? Obstructed by what?"

"Shouldn't it be obvious, dear one? It is obstructed," they say in unison, "by you."

* * *

After spending a few hours in the hot spring, Persephone finally managed to pry herself out of the water. Putting on a fresh set of clothes, she decided that if she was not able to leave the palace, she might as well explore it, and she knew just where to look first -Hades' private study_._

Hecate had told her earlier in the morning that besides his bed chamber, Hades' study was his most personal room, and that she should not, under any circumstances, go in there without his permission. Naturally, Persephone decided that invading his private study was the first thing she would do once she was sure he was out of the castle. And, after hearing nothing but her own soft breathing, she was quite sure he had left. It took her hours of backtracking and getting lost, but she _finally_ managed to find the place.

Now stepping into the room, she feels a bit disappointed at what she finds. _It's just a normal room,_ she muses.  
She's about to leave when her eye catches a glint of something. She walks over to the dark mahogany desk in the corner of the room and sees a small golden ring, enlaced with several precious gems. As Persephone moves to pick it up, she notices that there's a letter underneath it, its paper yellowed and frayed. Parts of it are burned and illegible. She leans down to the letter and reads it:

_[Illegible]_

_My love, please leave the city. I cannot keep Zeus at bay for much longer, and I know he wishes to harm you. Zeus will know if I try to find you in the city. _

_[Illegible]_

_Get to the front of the forest and I will meet you. Wait for me there – I will find you, and Zeus will no longer be able to harm you. You need to leave as soon as you can._

_I [illegible] you, please be safe._

_-H_

Persephone stares at the letter for a very long time, different scenarios racing in her mind. After reading it over and over and examining the ring, she knows one thing is for sure: Hades had a wife. _But why have I never heard of that? No one's ever said he'd been married before…Not even Hecate. _

She starts when a shade appears in front of her.

"Lord Hades does not appreciate snooping in his private study," the shade says.

Persephone laughs nervously. "I wasn't _snooping_. I got…lost."

The shade looks at her for a long moment, unblinking. Finally, it says, "It is time for dinner."

"Wait wh-what? Oh, of course. Dinner. Where is the dining hall?"

"This way, my lady. Follow me."

Despite being slightly embarrassed at getting caught, Persephone grins to herself. _Time to get some questions answered._

* * *

When she walks into the dining hall, she sees Hades lounging on several luxurious pillows and staring directly at the ceiling; absent-mindedly plucking grapes into his mouth.

"Something interesting up there, Hades?" Persephone asks.

He grimaces and takes a small drink of his elixir. "Not really," he replies, his eyes still glued to the ceiling. "Sit, dinner will be here in a moment."

Persephone lays back on one of the pillows and allows herself to relax as a comfortable silence settles between the two.

After about ten minutes, when the food is finally brought out, he looks at her.

"You look very beautiful tonight, Persephone…Thank you for joining me."

Persephone feels her cheeks heat up at his compliment. "I'm only here for answers," she says.

He smiles at her. "Of course," he says, taking a sip of wine. "Ask away."

She grabs a small handful of grapes and slowly (and, Hades notices, rather sensuously) plucks one into her mouth, trying to think of the first question to ask him.

She doesn't notice that his eyes dart to her lips and linger there as she eats the grapes.

Hades feels his mouth go dry at the sight, despite the wine. _What in the world is she doing?_ he wonders.

"Who taught you to eat like that?" he asks.

"Eat like what?" she asks innocently. Her big green eyes look back up at him, and he relaxes because he's pretty sure she's not trying to toy with him on _purpose_.

Or at least he _thinks_ he's sure.

"Ne-never mind," he huffs. He takes another sip of wine to calm his nerves. "Ask your questions, my lady."

After about a minute more of Persephone toying with the grapes – with Hades looking intensely at a small splotch on the bronze floor – she finally decides on her first question.

"What is that mark on your side?"

He looks back up at her, icy blue eyes intense and focused. "A curse."

She matches the intensity of his gaze. "Where did you get it?"

"Tartarus."

"How?"

" I was wounded."

_Here comes the first big question. _Persephone readies herself.

"Who gave it to you?"

Hades looks at her,really_ looks_ at her for the first time since she's been in the Underworld, and his eyes tell her that she isn't going to like the answer.

"My father," he states simply.

"Cronus."

"The one and only."

Persephone feels her mind reeling at the thought. _Cronus?_ _But, how? How is that even possible?_

"…Is Cronus gaining power? I thought Zeus destroyed him with his own scythe…"

Hades gives her a small smile. "Not completely, though that should have been expected. Gods and Titans never truly die, Persephone. What's your next question?"

Persephone pauses, the both of them not realizing she inching closer to Hades. _This is getting interesting_, she thinks.

"So you're in pain because of the curse." He nods. "And the elixir Hecate gives you helps you with the pain." Another nod.

"Would you like to ask me anything else?" He hopes she says no. He breaks off a piece of ambrosia and nibbles on it – he finds that talking about his father has ruined his appetite.

Not wasting any time, Persephone asks, "Why are you banned from Olympus?"

Now _that _nearly makes Hades jump out of his skin, almost causing him to spill his wine all over himself.

"That's a rather long story, Persephone." _And I don't want to tell it_, he thinks.

Persephone glares at him, and if looks could kill – and if he could die – he's sure he'd be swimming in the Acheron. "You swore on the River Styx. Even a man such as you wouldn't break such an oath."

Now it's Hades' turn to glare. " 'A man such as me?'" _Am I only a horrible monster in your eyes?_

She crosses her arms. "Answer the question, Hades"

Deciding to give her only the bare-minimum details unless asked for more, he tells her, "I went to war against Zeus."

"Why?"

Hades' eyes move back to the floor. He doesn't want to answer her. He doesn't , but he knows he has to. He can't break a sworn oath.

"He…took someone precious from me. I wanted revenge." _His wife, _Persephone thinks.

Persephone narrows her eyes in thought. "Doesn't Poseidon always try to take over Olympus? Why hasn't he been banned?"

Hades almost laughs at that. "He never gets very far."

"Your wife, Hades, what was her name?"

"I see you were _snooping_ in my study," his voice sounds irritated, but around his eyes are crinkles that betray amusement. She sees him shut his eyes and softly smile. "Her name was Calliope…I was never able to make her my wife. Your father _took_ her from me before I _could_."

"…You loved her." He nods slowly.

"Very much," he says, taking another sip of wine. He suddenly feels very tired. He lies fully on his back and closes his eyes.

"Hades."

"Hmmmmm?" He's rubbing his side through his clothes, though the pain is rather dull at the moment. In fact, he hardly feels it at all.

"Thank you for being honest." He feels her lightly run her fingers through his hair; feels her lips on his cheek by the corner of his mouth. She giggles at the scratchy sensation of his short beard on her lips and notices one of his hands lightly grab her wrist.

"Stay," he sleepily says. "Stay here with… me."

Persephone looks down at him, his eyes slightly closed and his breathing soft, his face serene and showing no signs of pain.

"…Alright Hades… I'll stay." She sees the corners of his lips turn up as she lays her head down on his chest. She snuggles further into him and feels one of his arms drape around her

"I love the sound of your heartbeat," she whispers, thinking he's fully asleep.

"I love…you…" he replies.

Persephone's eyes dart to his face. "What?" she asks. "What did you say, Hades?"

He doesn't answer, but his arm around her tightens. She can tell he really has fallen asleep, though; she can see the rapid movement underneath his eyelids and his steady breathing. _He probably meant something else, _Persephone decides, laying her head back down on his chest and falling asleep to the rhythm of his heartbeat.

* * *

A/N: LOOK AT THE FLUFFINESS! LOOK AT IT! :D Enjoy the fluff gaize, I know I hardly ever give you any. I hope this made you all d'awwwww. Updates are not going to be this frequent, but I already had this chapter laid out sooooo yeah. But anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed it. Leave comments as always.

-Inkspot


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22:

In his slumber, Hades sees her.

"Will you forgive me?" he asks. He feels Cronus's black whispers in the back of his mind, _She will never forgive you, Aidoneous._ He clenches his teeth and asks her again. "Will you forgive me, Calliope?"

They're in Elysium; her back his facing his, raven-black hair flowing behind her. "I forgive you," she says. Her voice travels through the air, wrapping around him and reverberating through him. "But do you forgive yourself, Hades?"

He looks down. "I…feel like such a mortal." He walks up to her and leans his head on the crook of her neck. "I've missed you…"

She turns to face him and smiles. "I know." Her hand reaches up to cup his face. "You need to let go, Hades."

"I can't…"

She rubs her thumb on his cheek. "My love, you _must_ – Cronus _will_ succeed in gaining control over you if you do not let go of your anger and pain."

He closes his eyes. "The curse."

Memories of the Fates' words crawl back into his mind. _"Your curse is a physical manifestation of all of your negative emotions, Lord Hades - this is what causes your pain… You already know the cure." _

"I've made a mistake, Calliope," he whispers.

Calliope lightly kisses his lips, "She will forgive you."

"…But will she ever love me?"

Calliope smiles at him as her form begins to dissipate and turn into mist around him. "Wake up, my lord," she says, "She is waiting for you."

His eyes close and his chest rises, taking in a deep breath as he feels the last bits of her presence circle around him.

* * *

She wakes up before he does.

She sits up slightly and looks at his face, flinching at the memory of the questions he had asked:

_ "'A man such as me'? Am I only a horrible monster in your eyes?"_

Persephone guessed that he had probably not meant for the second question to come out. It did anyway.

"I've been angry with you, but…I don't think you're a monster, Hades," she whispers. _I don't think I ever did_, she thinks.

She sees his eyelids flutter.

He is still asleep.

Persephone looks at his calm sleeping face and makes a choice. She leans in and kisses his lips. She grins – he's still asleep.

She kisses him again, this time on the corner of his stubbled jaw, kissing a trail up to his mouth. She abruptly stops when she feels one his hands on her face. _Looks like he's awake now…_Her cheeks heat up.

* * *

When he first woke up, Hades wasn't sure what was going on. In his groggy, half-asleep state, he had been vaguely aware that he was feeling the familiar and pleasant sensation of a kiss, but when he woke up, he thought he was hallucinating…

"Persephone…what are you doing?" The skin of her cheek under his palm is soft and silky.

Her face heat up some more, but she smiles up at him, green eyes playful and shining. "Kissing you," she replies.

He swallows. Why is his throat so dry? "Oh, is that all?" He moves his hand from her cheek to her hair. His fingers run through it – it too is soft and silky.

"Yes," she says, leaning in closer.

He looks back into her eyes – green and blue are staring each other down. He cups her face in both of his hands. "If that's all…then you wouldn't mind doing it again, would you?"

She smiles down at him. "Of course not." She leans down again and tries to kiss him on the cheek, but he turns his head to capture her lips.

And they stay like that for a minute, neither one moving; lips lightly touching lips, until Persephone makes a movement – unintentionally – and ends up slightly licking his lips. Hades' breath hitches and he deepens the kiss, running his fingers across her cheeks and through her hair. She straddles her legs across his hips to get into a more comfortable position.

His hands move down to her waist and roam up and down her sides. She lightly nips his bottom lip in response and feels him smile against her mouth.

She decides to put a lesson she learned from Aphrodite to good use and moves from kissing his mouth down across his jaw and to his neck. She grins when she hears him gasp in response, hands on her hips tightening their grip. She's still kissing his neck when he rolls them over.

His eyes are dark and he's slightly out of breath, but got a small smile on his lips.

Persephone thinks he's the greatest thing she's ever seen. She rubs the back of her hand on his cheek. "Hades…I – I understand why you did what you did."

He leans into her touch and holds the hand she has on his face. "You forgive me?" he asks.

She pulls him down to her and whispers in his ear, "Yes, Hades. I do forgive you."

"Thank yo-"She cuts him off with another kiss and his mind stops. Their kiss deepens once again and hands start their roaming.

It's been so long since he's been intimate that he almost doesn't stop her when she starts to rub her hands down his chest, removing the top layer of his robe.

Almost.

The dining hall, he remembers, is for dining – _not_ for sleeping and most definitely _not_ for _coupling_.

And, while his brothers Poseidon and Zeus didn't seem to care either way, Hades had a real problem with doing that sort of thing outside of being married.

This is not to say he hadn't had the occasional tryst with a nymph when he was younger, freshly out of Cronus's belly, wanting to see and experience the world. But he had been young then, _genuinely_ young, and over the years he had learned that such activities only left him with a sense of hollowness and loneliness, especially after Calliope had died and he had tried to fill the void with mindless sex. _That_ had only lasted about year, once he had found himself feeling even more miserable than before.

He lightly grabs her hands and regretfully breaks the kiss, resting his forehead on hers.

"Thank you," she says, "I wasn't thinking." He smirks. _It looks like you didn't want to go any father either…_

"Persephone, I-"

Hades is interrupted by a shade that walks in. Both their heads move up to look at the shade.

"My lord, your brother is here to speak with you."

Persephone gasps. "Father?!"

Hades frowns and narrows his eyes. "Which one?"

"The Earth-shaker, my lord."

Hades' frown grows deeper. "Poseidon... Where is he?"

"In the throne room, my lord. He has his trident with him."

Hades seethes. "That fool thinks he can bring his symbol of power into **_my_** realm and get away with it?!" He feels his side begin to burn.

Her hands touch his face and he starts. "Hades, you are the ruler here." She stares right into him. "Show him that."

He nods. "Would you like to come with me?" _He's giving me a chance to leave_, she realizes. _Should I take it? _

"Hades, I…"

"You want to go home."

She nods. "I do, but-"

He looks down at her, kisses her and takes her hand. "Let's go see what my brother wants."

At the back of his mind, Hades can hear Cronus laughing. _You will lose her forever, Aideoneous._ He grips her hand tighter. _Not today,_ he thinks to himself. _I will not lose her today._

* * *

A/N:

Heya there, gaize! I hope ya'll liked this chapter! Of course, more are on the way! :D Please leave reviews! I get motivation to get better and keep going from them, so thanks to all those who write them :D


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23:

"Is he even here?" Poseidon asks, agitated. "I haven't got all day, shade."

"The master is on his way, my lord."

Poseidon spins his trident in his hand. "He'd better be-"

"You called for me, brother?" Poseidon snaps his head towards Hades' voice; he walks in with Persephone right at his side, not a step behind. Poseidon tries to keep himself from smiling. _My, my Persephone…Hades really did steal you. This plan just might work after all,_ he thinks.

"Ah, Hades! How is my dear, _dear_ older brother? You're still upsetting Mother, I see." Poseidon sets his trident slightly out in front of him – a threat of power.

Hades ignores him and sits in his throne as Persephone moves to stand beside him. She puts a hand on his right shoulder. His face is set with a cold expression, and when Persephone looks down at him, she almost feels frightened.

"State your business, Poseidon. You and I both know you would never just come down here for a friendly visit."

"Very well," Poseidon grunts. He nods his head towards Persephone. "So Zeus was right – you finally managed to steal one of his children. I _love_ what you've done with the Underworld, by the way – dark, rich… but is that beast Cerberus _really_ still necessary? "

"State your business," Hades snaps.

Poseidon spins his trident in his hand again. "Well, you should know, _dear_ brother – Cronus."

Hades twitches slightly when he feels a sharp pain in his side. Persephone squeezes his shoulder and he sets his jaw. "I've already told you and Zeus about Cronus."

"Yes, well, Zeus is afraid–ahem–_concerned _that he may be gaining strength faster than anticipated."

Hades scoffs. "And if he is?"

Poseidon readies himself. _"Make him angry," Aphrodite said._ _"Lie to him." _

_ Here is the first lie,_ he thinks. "Zeus wants to know what you plan on doing about it."

Hades' eyes narrow. "What _I_ plan on doing about it?" He feels his side begin to burn and he clenches his fists. Persephone squeezes his shoulder tighter.

Poseidon laughs, his voice nasally and mirthless. "Why of course _you_, **_dear_** brother. You _are_ in charge of Tartarus."

"Our father is gaining strength, and I get no assistance?"

Poseidon shrugs. "You have the hundred-handed."

Hades glares at him. "Need I remind you that it took our entire family 10 years of _war_ to defeat him? Father isn't the only one rising, Poseidon – he's building an army of souls in Tartarus. He'll be stronger this time. I need _more_ than just the hundred-handed."

Poseidon shrugs again. "Zeus doesn't seem to think so." Another lie.

"Zeus doesn't seem to **_think_**!" Hades shouts, the pain in his side causing his words to come out strained.

He doesn't have any potions with him.

Persephone looks down at him and moves her hand from his shoulder to the back of his neck, lightly trailing her fingers across the skin there.

Poseidon nods his head towards Persephone and smiles lasciviously. "And of course, there's the issue of Demeter's beautiful daughter here."

Hades quickly looks up at her. "Zeus wants me to release her."

Poseidon smiles to himself. _Perfect,_ he thinks. "No, actually," he says, "Zeus has stated that Persephone is to stay in your realm until we find Demeter."

Persephone gasps. "What do you mean, 'find'? What's happened to my mother?"

Poseidon grins. Hermes had actually just found Demeter in the past week, but when Poseidon had left Olympus she had still been refusing to talk to anyone. Zeus had given him very specific instructions about what to say regarding Cronus and Persephone – specifically that if Hades needed help with their father, he would send assistance…and that Persephone needed to be returned immediately to Demeter because she was refusing to do her duties as a goddess. Very soon, the humans would begin to die en mass. It was not something Zeus wanted to deal with, especially with the threat of Cronus regaining full power.

Zeus's instructions were specific, and Poseidon specifically did everything he wasn't supposed to.

_Glorious war is on its way,_ he thinks. _A new king will be crowned. _

"Your mother has gone looking for you," Poseidon says, grinning. "We have _all_ been working _very_ hard to find her-"

Hades cuts him off. "Why isn't Hermes here giving the message?" _Ahhh, clever Aphrodite_, Poseidon thinks, smiling. _Very clever._

"Hermes is off ransacking Apollo's cows," he replies.

Hades almost snorts. "The red ones?"

"Those very same."

"So Zeus sent you instead."

Persephone steps away from Hades' throne and shouts. "Excuse me, but did you two suddenly forget I was here?! My mother is **_missing_**! Why is Hermes _stealing_ Apollo's cows when he should be looking for _her_?!"

Poseidon spins his trident once again. He gives a nonchalant shrug. "Hermes is fast, Persephone. He'll find her when he's done. In the meantime, Zeus wants you to stay here." Poseidon looks up from his trident to see Hades' eyes boring into him.

Hades cocks his head to the side and scratches his beard. "I think you're lying about something, Poseidon."

_Shit,_ Poseidon thinks. He puts up a confident smile. "Are you now a god of truth, brother? Last time I checked, though I_ do_ admit it was quite a while ago, you could only look into the hearts of _mortals_."

Hades smiles darkly. "I suppose I'll trust you, then. For now. Persephone?"

Persephone wipes her eyes. She has been silently crying. "Yes, Hades?" she asks, sniffling.

"Do you want to go home?"

Poseidon starts. _What is he doing?_ "Hades, Zeus said-"

"I don't give a **_damn_ **about what Zeus said, Poseidon," Hades snaps. He looks back to Persephone and asks her again. "Do you want to go home, Persephone?"

Persephone thinks about her missing mother and her home; her forests and nymph friends. She misses it all.

But when she looks at him, she realizes that'd she'd miss him just as much and her heart flutters. _When did I start feeling this way…?_

"I want to go home," she starts, "but my mother isn't there…"

Hades feels his heart speed up in his chest and the flares of pain subside. "Do you wish to stay here instead?" _With me?_

Persephone looks into his eyes and nods. "I do, Hades. I wish it." _With you._

Poseidon breathes a sigh of relief he hadn't realized he had been holding. _That was too close,_ he thinks. His red eyebrows go up in surprise when he sees Hades smile at Persephone. _Well that's…odd, _he thinks. _Hades never smiles, not since…and is **she** smiling **back**? What in Tartarus?_

He clears his throat. "I believe it is time for me to take my leave, brother."

Hades turns his head to look at his brother and his expression returns to cold indifference (but Poseidon notices that there is a spark behind his eye – a bit of life there that he hasn't seen in a long time). _Aphrodite **really** has outdone herself this time, _he thinks.

Poseidon begins to walk away when he hears Hades' deep voice and pauses. "If you ever come into my realm without my permission again, Poseidon, I will not hesitate to throw you into Tartarus with Father." Hades' tone is deadly serious.

Poseidon continues walking and smiles to himself.

"Of course, brother," he replies, flipping his trident in the air. His grin grows wider as he walks away. _Everything is going according to plan._

When Poseidon is finally gone, Hades gets up from his throne and holds his arm out.

"Come, Persephone," he says, "I have something to show you."

She laughs. "Don't you have a kingdom to run, 'Lord Hades'?"

He smiles at her. "The kingdom can wait."

* * *

A/N: WOOOT! Another update for ya'll! Again, let me know what ya'll think in reviews – dey give the motivation to keep on goin' guise. :D I LOVE YOU ALL!


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24:

When Poseidon comes back, he finds that he has to hold the palace together when Zeus's anger causes all of Olympus to shake.

"He said **_WHAT_**?!" Zeus yells, smashing his fist against a pillar.

The palace rumbles.

Poseidon sighs. "He said 'no', brother. Really, this isn't_ that_ hard of a concept to understand Zeus. Even for you."

Zeus grabs his lightning bolt, readies it. "Don't you condescend to me, Poseidon," he hisses.

Poseidon shrugs. " You deal with him now – I have to go back to my kingdom."

"I need you stay here," Zeus booms. " Hermes came back from his trip sick."

Poseidon's red brows go up in fake surprise. "Oh, did he now?" he asks curiously. "How…unfortunate." He tries to keep himself from grinning.

In truth, he knows that Aphrodite poisoned Hermes – it had been a part of her plan all along. When he arrived after ransacking and stealing Apollo's cows, she had been the first to greet him, and gave him a goblet of nectar containing the poison. How Aphrodite ever learned how to poison a god, Poseidon doesn't know, but he does know one thing: he's glad that, for now, they're on the same side.

He frowns. _Now we are allies_, he thinks. _But for how long?_ Hades is just a tool for all of them, he knows; a way to unseat Zeus from his throne, and make a move for the throne themselves. The major problem is that, while Ares and Dionysus only want the war, Poseidon and Aphrodite want to rule Olympus. Poseidon suspects that Aphrodite will try to rule through her son Eros. And then there's the whole issue of Hades ruling…_It doesn't matter – he will remove Zeus from power, then I will challenge him and take Olympus as my own. _ He plans to use Aphrodite and her son when he fights Hades; and when his older brother is defeated, betray Aphrodite and take the throne for himself.

_Things aren't going to be that simple, of course,_ he thinks. _Aphrodite will have a trick up her sleeve…but I'll be ready for it. _

Outwardly, he puts up his most sympathetic face. "I'm sorry, Zeus, but I really must go. Hermes is your errand boy. I am not.s"

Zeus scrunches his brows together. "I told you that he is sick."

Poseidon shrugs once again and begins to head out of the palace. "I guess you'll just have to sit and wait for him to get better then," he calls from over his shoulder.

"Yes, and in the meantime the humans will die," Zeus groans. He sits on his marble throne and rubs his temples. _Being king is not all it's cracked up to be…_

* * *

"Where are you taking me, Hades?" Persephone giggles. She's blindfolded.

He's leading her by the hand.

"It's a surprise," he says, and even though she can't see him, she knows that he's smiling.

They walk a few more moments in silence until Hades abruptly stops in front of her and she almost bumps her head into his back.

"We're here," he says, with an air of pride in his voice. She feels him kiss the top of her forehead and she knows she's smiling stupidly. "Are you ready?" he asks.

She nods her head and becomes aware of his presence behind her, feels him untie her blindfold.

"You can look now." His voice is soft in her ear.

When Persephone opens her eyes, she is distantly aware that her mouth falls open in shock. Another part of her is also distantly aware that he is resting his head on the crook of her shoulder and that his arms are wrapping around her waist from behind.

"Do you like it?" he asks, placing small kisses against the back of her neck.

"…It's…beautiful," she states.

It is.

They're in a gigantic garden, filled with thousands upon thousands of different plants

and flowers, with rubies, diamonds and pieces of silver and gold scattered in there for good measure.

When Hades had taken her to Elysium, she had thought she had seen the most beautiful thing his kingdom had to offer.

Clearly, she had been wrong.

"It's so beautiful," she whispers.

"It's for you," he replies. She feels his lips move on her neck and she sighs.

They stay like that for a moment longer, with him holding her; neither one wanting to move or break the silence. In the end, Hades is the first to let go. She turns around.

"Where are you going, my lord?" she asks.

He smiles faintly back at her. "Just because the kingdom can _wait _does not mean it can be _ignored_," he pauses, plucking a large red fruit from a tree. He holds it up to her face, his blue eyes peering at her intently. "Do you know what kind of fruit this is?" he asks.

She stares at it for a moment before shaking her head, 'no'.

"It's a pomegranate," he says, tossing the fruit up in the air and catching it three times.

"Food of the Underworld," she replies.

He nods and stares at her intently again. "Do you know what it means if you eat the food of the Underworld?"

"You can never leave this place."

He nods again and moves his eyes from hers to the fruit. His grip around it tightens and he looks torn. She walks up to him and lightly kisses his lips.

"Persephone, I need to tell you – "

"Shhh," she says, cupping his face in her hands. "You have a kingdom to run; I have a garden to explore."

"Persephone, I lo – "

"I'll meet you in the throne room later tonight."

"I love you," he says simply. He knows it's been a short while, even for a god, but dammit he's fallen and he's fallen _hard_.

For a moment she just looks at him; into his clear eyes.

"…I –I. " Her shock at his words keeps her from saying much. "_I love you, too." Why is that so hard to say? It's true! Right? Is it true…?_ Her brow furrows in frustration.

He smiles wryly down at her. "You can say that you love me too, you know." There's an amused lilt in his voice that lets her know he's teasing.

She matches his smile. "That's quite a bit to assume, 'Lord Hades'."

His expression abruptly changes. He looks almost… hurt. "…You don't…"

She laughs and manages to kiss him, and kiss him deeply, before he can pull away.

"What does _that_ tell you?" she breathes into his ear. She hears him raggedly laugh. "Now, go be a king."

* * *

As Hades sits in his throne, he tosses the pomegranate up and down in the air, and feels a sharp spark of pain in his side that makes him see stars in front of his eyes when he sends a soul to Tartarus. _She doesn't **love** you_, he hears Cronus whisper in his mind. _If she did, your curse would be **broken.** _

Hades squeezes the fruit in his hand. He knows the curse isn't broken…but he also feels like Persephone was telling him the truth. He grits his teeth as a wave of pain rocks through him when he sends another soul to Tartarus. _Perhaps there is more to this curse than what the Fates told me…_

At the back of his mind, he can hear his father laughing at his thoughts. Hades knows that he is the one losing this battle. _Persephone…do you really love me?_

* * *

_A/N: Woot, another update! Things are coming along, folks. :D Please leave reviews!_

LOVE YOU ALL!


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25:

A knock on the door. "…Hades? Are you -"

* * *

After Hades left, Persephone had laid herself beneath the pomegranate tree, stretching her arms out to her sides and running her fingers through the wet grass. She sighed contentedly, remembering how he held her against him. She remembered his earthy scent, and how his strong arms wrapped around her body made her feel safe. She sighed and let herself completely relax against the earth, and willed plants to grow in her happiness. Lush flowers sprang up from the ground at her sides, and as she observed the beauty around her, she began to think that maybe…maybe living in the Underworld would not be so bad after all…

Eventually, she had gotten up and began to explore the other parts of the garden. She had found it to be completely enormous, and figured it was almost as big as Hades' whole palace. She decided that it was far too large to see in one day, and guessed that it was probably to time head back into the throne chamber – but to her surprise, when she entered the room, she found that Hades was not there.

"Where is he?" she asked a shade.

The shade gave her a low bow. "My lady," the shade said, "Lord Hades has retired to his chambers. He is not feeling well. He said to wish you goodnight."

Persephone crossed her arms. "Can I not go see him?"

The shade shook her head – Persephone was sure this one was a female – and handed Persephone a goblet of nectar. "I would advise against that, my lady. He will see you in the morning."

Persephone decided not to push the issue. After going to dinner and getting a visit from Hecate, where she was properly introduced to Thanatos, a very handsome and soft-spoken god with dark hair and skin, and Morpheus, who also had dark skin, but glowing white eyes and hair (his appearance rather unsettled her, but as she spoke to him, she found him to be rather polite and soft-spoken as well) she decided to turn in for the night. Sleep came easily, and she thanked Morpheus for her calm dreams.

That is, until she heard a very distinct voice screaming in the distance, and found herself waking to the sound. She had tried to fall back asleep, but found that she could not, for the palace shook tumultuously after each yell.

She decided that it would be better to wake Hades instead of having him bring the palace to ruins in his sleep.

* * *

There were many souls that day, more so than Hades had seen in a long while since he had gained his judges. They assisted him, but he was still the supreme ruler of the Underworld, and as such, passed judgment on special cases.

Lately, there had been very many special cases.

It had started slow, with Hades staring at the pomegranate in his hand. _Should I ask her?_ he had wondered. _Does she really love me?_

With each passing soul he sent to Tartarus, Hades had felt himself grow weaker and weaker; had felt his dark mark burn white-hot as Cronus began to whisper in his mind.

_She **doesn't** **love **you,_Cronus had whispered, _If she did, your curse would be** broken. **_

Cronus repeated these words in Hades' mind, and before he realized it, Hades had crushed the pomegranate in his hand and the too-red juice made it look like his palm was stained with blood.

_Mortal blood_.

He felt sick.

It was then that Hades decided he was going to turn in early, and perhaps drink some wine.

He was feeling irritable in his pain, and did not want to take his temper out on Persephone.

He knew that at times like these, he was no longer fully in control of his own actions.

So about an hour before Persephone had arrived in the throne room, Hades had returned to his chambers and drank himself into oblivion with the intention of keeping his sleep dreamless and Cronus-free.

His drunk mind had sluggishly wondered if his smell alone would keep his father away, and he would have smiled had he not been so disgusted with himself. Sure enough, after quite a few goblets, he had passed out onto his bed and into a dreamless slumber – for a short while.

In the end though, the alcohol had only served to make things even more vivid, and he had found himself waking with a start drenched in sweat.

From then on he had slept fitfully, and his side burned with a white-hot intensity that he had not felt for quite a while.

Now, in his dreams, he hears a loud knock and slowly returns to consciousness.

Without even hearing her voice, he knows it's her.

"…Hades? " Another knock, and his father's voice cackles in his mind.

_You have already** lost** this battle, my **son**…_

"Then **_finish_** it!" Hades yells. He's standing in front of a large mirror, his fist cracking the glass in a punch, leaving trails of ichor on his knuckles and down the blurry glass.

"Finish what, my lord?" Her voice is calm and soft, but when he turns around, he can tell that he's startled her. He's quite a bit startled himself to see her.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, none too kindly. His side is burning.

She shrugs and sits at the edge of his large bed. "I came to check on you," she says simply, truthfully. "And besides, your screaming was keeping me up."

He looks down. He almost feels ashamed. "I apologize for waking you," he says.

From the corner of his eye, he sees her look at him, her face calm and serious.

"I came to check on you," she says, giving him a small smile. "Don't apologize."

He sits down next to her, and after a moment she moves to hold his hand.

He accepts it.

"I…can't sleep," he says.

"…Is it because of-?'

"It is." She squeezes his hand.

"I'm here now," she says, kissing his right temple. "Do you want me to stay with you again?"

"Yes," he says. _I want you stay with me always. _

He doesn't say it.

She falls back on his bed- taking him with her - and moves on her side to face him. She touches his face and his stubble prickles her fingers. His eyes close.

"Thank you, Hades, for the garden. It's beautiful."

"You're welcome," he says, clenching his jaw and holding his side. His head is pounding.

He feels her fingers opening his robes, and his eyes snap open again.

"Persephone, what are-"

His voice stops when he feels her hand on his skin. Her touch is cool and soothing on the mark. He sighs in relief.

He hears her hiss.

"It _burns_," she says. She knew it would – she's still surprised.

"Yes." Her hand goes across the rest of the mark, and inch by inch he feels his side begin to stop burning.

She wrinkles her nose. "You smell like Dionysus," she says, laughing. He glares at her and she laughs even harder.

Her burning hand moves to his chest and rests there.

"I don't want to fall again," he says suddenly. She looks up at him. His eyes are earnest. "I can't."

She puts her hand on his jaw again. "I won't let you," she whispers. He shuts his eyes…

He rolls onto her and leans his face to her ear.

"I want you, I need you…Stay with me," he says, kissing her neck. "…Marry me."

"Hades…"

"I love you," he says into her ear. "Stay with me." _Marry me._

"I can't marry you, Hades."

He gets up on his elbows and looks down at her, eyes questioning. "Why not?"

Her expression suddenly turns dark, and her smile twists into something wicked. "_Because I don't love you!" She will **never** love you. And I will **finish** this! _He feels her hand claw into his side and squeeze, opening the skin there, black ooze and ichor pouring out.

"Hades!"

He feels hands touching him and he panics. He doesn't want to go through that again.

"_Hades_! It's _me_!"

He sits up, chest heaving and his heart pounding. He feels arms wrap around him from behind.

"It's me," she says, kissing his shoulder. "I won't let you fall."

_This isn't a dream, _he thinks. _You're awake now. _After a few moments, he finally talks. _You're awake now… _

He repeats this mantra in his head as he says, "Persephone, will you marry me?"

There is a long pause, and he feels the panic start to rise. _You're awake, _he thinks. _This isn't a dream. _

After what seems like an eternity, she finally whispers, lowly but resoundingly against his neck, "Yes."

* * *

A/N: Sorry this took so long guys, but you know how things go – story's gonna wrap up here pretty soon, so be prepared for that….and yeah. So you know the drill – comments and reviews on what you like, what you don't like, etc. They're all great. You're all great, because you've been sticking to this story, and I applaud and thank you for that . I LOVE YOU ALL - #reviews, comments :p


	26. Chapter 26

DISCLAIMER:

There is a sexytiem scene in this chapter. No, I'm not changing the rating. I've read worse in Gossip Girl books, but this is just a forewarning. Nothing is overly explicit – it's not smut, or anything. BUT – If you're like, 13, don't read it? Idk, you've likely read much worse. Anywho. :P You know your limits, so just skip it if that sort of content offends you.

* * *

Chapter 26:

In the days that followed the proposal, Persephone had found herself spending more and more time in her garden, exploring and experimenting with growing different things. She rarely saw Hades, except for the occasional dinner he was able to attend, as souls began to enter the Underworld in droves.

He began feeling weaker and weaker with each new soul he sent to Tartarus. And, despite his best efforts, Persephone could tell; could see.

Still, he did his best to make her happy, lavishing her with fine jewelry and clothes to make up for his absence.

She knew he was working hard, and though she was never one for wearing such fine jewelry – that was more Aphrodite's thing – she appreciated the gesture. As the days progressed, Persephone noticed more and more shades in the palace. She saw a shade moving around the pillows in the dining hall. He was carrying red fabric.

"What is all this for?" she asked him.

The shade gave her a low bow. "For your wedding, of course, my lady." Her face turned red. She decided not to ask any more questions.

The ceremony itself was simple, but for a whole day, the entire Underworld stopped, and all deities therein were in attendance. Both bride and groom wore red chitons, and the feast was grand, sporting wonderful wine, meats, cheeses and fruits. A shade played a lyre and sang as people feasted and danced, talking and cheering and being merry.

The two sat separated, with Hades entertaining the male guests.

Just as she was starting to feel antsy, Persephone felt a hand touch her shoulder. It was Hecate.

"I distinctly remember you saying that me you would never be this 'tyrant's Queen." Her smile was kind.

."…He…managed to change my mind," Persephone softly laughed. "I wish I could talk to him…I'm quite nervous, about, you know-"

Hecate sat next to her, and still touching her shoulder, whispered in her ear. "Do not be afraid, my lady."

* * *

Right now she's not sure if she's afraid or nervous. She suspects she's both. The celebration continues well after Hades and Persephone leave, him leading her by the arm.

He pauses when they reach the bedroom door, pushing them open with his other hand.

His side burns and his head pounds.

He hasn't done this sort of thing in a long time.

They walk towards his bed – their bed, now – and Persephone wonders if he can hear her heart beating rapidly.

She doesn't know it, but he's just as nervous as she is.

He turns to look at her, eyes serious and contemplative.

"I will wait, if you're not ready –" He's cut off when she pushes him down to a sitting position on the bed and straddles him, leaving a trail of hot kisses from his neck to his mouth.

His stubble tickles her face.

"…I'm ready, Hades," she says into his ear. _Time to put those lessons Aphrodite taught me to the test._

He rolls so that he is on top, and a chaste kiss on the lips turns into something fierce and passionate; her hands tear at his clothes until his chest is bare. She trails her fingers over his sculpted chest and abdomen. She feels his stomach quiver as her hand moves just below his navel and then back up again. He groans when she lifts her hips, accidentally kneeing his right side.

"Are you alright?" she asks, running her fingers up and down the length of his back.

"…Yes." His voice is strained; his breath is hot against her ear.

He's shaking.

She rolls so that she is straddling his hips again, and she looks down at him. "Hades… Tell me what's wrong." When she places her hands on his chest, she feels his hands move to rest on her hips.

"I've been waiting to hold you like this," his hands begin to move slowly upward, "to kiss you like this," he sits up slightly, lightly kissing her and moving his hands up to her shoulders, "for so long."

His hands unhook and pull down her red tunic to her waist and she looks away from him, embarrassed.

"Persephone, look at me." She feels his hand on her cheek, turning her to face him. "Don't hide from me."

She looks in his eyes, clear and determined. "Don't hide from me."

She shuts her eyes, removes the rest of her clothing and crosses her arms over her chest.

"Don't hide," he says, his shaking hands lightly pulling her arms down, "you're beautiful. So beautiful…"

He sits up again, pulling her flush against his chest.

She feels his burning mark against her skin, hears him sigh in relief on her neck.

Keeping her close, his hands explore every inch of her skin; he hears her breathing becoming louder in his ear, her hips grinding against him. He moans at the contact.

"Make love to me," she says, breathlessly. "Hades, make love to me."

His kisses up her throat to her lips, rocking his hips with hers and holding her even tighter against him. "Yes, my lady," he says as she removes the last bits of his chiton.

And so he does; taking his time loving her; exploring her body with his hands, taking in her scent and feeling her holding him against her.

His mark soothes with her touch, her body fitted perfectly against his. He feels alive, feels truly alive, and she's here with him.

Touching him, kissing him.

Loving him.

When the time comes, they fall off the precipice together, holding tightly to one another and saying each other's names breathlessly.

She lays her head on his chest. "My king," she says, "I love you." _I will not let you fall. _

He wraps his arms around her tightly. 

Sleep comes, restfully and peacefully.

* * *

"Hermes, I don't care how sick you are; you're going to the Underworld."

"But Father-"

"No excuses, Hermes. Demeter is killing the humans – Persephone needs to be here _now_. Get her back. What are you waiting for? _GO_!"

Zeus's voice leaves no room for arguing, and Hermes heads for the Underworld, despite his dizziness.

He greets Cerberus and Charon; both who eye him suspiciously.

When he reaches the throne room, he almost stops in his tracks at the sight of Persephone and Hades. _He…actually did it. He married her. _

He clears his throat.

"Hades, Zeus has ordered you to release Persephone at once."

Hades stands up, black robes billowing behind him. His face is furious. "Zeus cannot _order_ me to do _anything_." _ This cannot be happening. I can't lose her – not now. Not after all of **this**. _

"Hades, the humans are _dying-"_

"Why should _I_ care if humans are dying? They give me no sacrifices or praise. Let them die." Black shadows swirl around him, and Hermes backs away.

Persephone looks at Hades, her eyes wide.

_ "_They are_ dying _because of Demeter. She needs to see her daughter."

His eyes narrow. He looks cold, calculating. "Let them **_die_**."

Persephone stands up. "Hades! How can you say _that_?!" she gasps. "The gods need human worship to live!"

"The humans don't worship _me_. Their _deaths_ make my realm stronger." His voice his cold.

His eyes are colder.

"You know that _isn't_ true, Hades! Why are you-"

Hades grabs her wrist and points to Hermes. "**_He wants to take you away from me!"_**

Hermes readies his staff. "Let her go, Hades!" His legs quiver.

Hades looks at Hermes, sending a spiral of green flames at him.

"_Hades!_"

His head snaps back to hers. "My mother needs me," she says, trying to make him understand.

"**_I need you_**," he tells her. He snaps his fingers, and a pomegranate appears in his hand. He gives it to her.

"Eat the seeds." _I need you._

"Hades-"

"**_Eat_** the seeds."

"Hades!" She feels tears threatening to come out. She doesn't let herself cry. Not now. Not after all this.

"**_Dammit, Persephone, I love you! Eat the seeds!_**" His voice is raw and angry; his grip on her wrist is like iron. _If you don't, he'll take you from me forever. _"**_Please_**, eat the seeds." _Don't let me fall. _

She shakes her head, and her voice quavers. "**_Don't_** ask me to choose between my mother and my husband, Hades. Don't. **_Please_**."

"Persephone, don't!" Hermes' voice is strained. He's still trying to defend himself from the flames.

"**_She_** will **_never_** let you return…" he says. "**_You will never be able to come back to me._**"

"Hades, you don't know that-"

He laughs, mirthlessly. "I **_do_**," he says, "I **_do_** know **_that_**." He shuts his eyes and sits back down, clenching his jaw. "Go," he says. _It was all a lie, _he hears Cronus laugh in his mind. _She **never** loved you; look at her now, leaving you after only a day of marriage. You have lost, my son. _

"My king, I –"

"**_Leave_**, Persephone." His eyes are still closed.

She kisses him, and after a few moments he reciprocates, his hands clinging to her.

"Don't leave me. **_Please_**," he whispers.

"My king…I'm sorry."

Hermes grabs her and pulls her away. "You know what this means, Hades."

"Yes." Persephone sees him gripping his throne tightly through tears she doesn't dare let fall free.

Hermes escorts her out of the Underworld and back to Olympus.

She's in a daze. _What have I done?_

Her crying mother rushes up to her, squeezing her tightly in her arms. Distantly she hears voices.

They're all there to greet her: Poseidon, grinning at her, and Ares too, Aphrodite with a sad smile on her face, Dionysus, Hestia and even Hera.

_"Zeus, look what Hades has done to my daughter! He's killed her, that's what he's done! She does not speak nor weep…Oh my poor child!"_

_ "Enough of that, Demeter! Reverse what you've done!"_

_ "I want Hades to be **punished**!"_

_ "Demeter, we have **taken away** his wife-"_

_ "She is NOT **his** wife – she is MY daughter!"_

In her daze, she manages to find the guestrooms. _Oh Hades, I'm so **sorry**. _She collapses on the bed, and this time-

This time she cries.

* * *

And on the other side of the palace, four gods rejoice in the success of their plan.

Tartarus.

In his anger and pain, he finds himself there.

"**_Father!_**" he screams. He falls to his knees, clutching his side.

He hears Cronus's voice in his mind, _Come to serve me, Aidoneous_?

"**_I have!_**" he yells, his voice straining from the burning pain.

Burning fingers touch his face, lifting his head up. "_How will you serve me?_" The figure in front of him is a shadow, dark and shifting. The voice is sharp and deep. "_Tell me how you will serve me."_

"**_I will destroy Zeus_**," he screams, "**_I will destroy Olympus – I will destroy the gods!_**"

The figure makes a sound that almost sounds like a laugh. "_Perfect_, _Aidoneous. Perfect_."

Hades feels Cronus's shadow-fingers touch his side, and his mind goes blank.

He feels nothing anymore.

* * *

A/N:

Hope ya'll liked it. As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments and reviews. :P I know I changed the whole pomegranate thing, but ya'll know I changed TONS of things in this story so yeah. LOVE YA'LL – R and R, dudes and dudettes! J


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27:

Cronus laughs as he takes control of Hades' body, feeling rejuvenated by his son's strength and power.

He reaches out, flexing Hades' arms and sending a spiral of green flames from his palms. He grins. _Perfect, _he thinks.

In Hades' throne room, he summons a council of all the Underworld deities.

"My friends," he says, smiling at them with his arms outstretched.

"Lord Hades," Morpheus says, "what is the matter?"

Cronus smiles cruelly. "Why, Morpheus, the matter is war, of course – I'm going to **_destroy_ **Olympus. And you all," he points to them, "are going to help me do it."

* * *

The gods gasp and turn to look at each other, uncertainty and fear in their eyes. After some struggling, Hecate manages to push past Morpheus and his brother Hypnos.

Her eyes are wide, but she manages to stay calm. "What has Queen Persephone said about this, my lord?"

"The queen is no longer here," Cronus growls at her, looking directly into her eyes, and she see herself reflected in gold.

She steps back, startled. "You are not my king," she whispers, pointing at him. "Look at him," she yells, "Look into his eyes! He is not your king!"

Cronus snarls and snaps his fingers, sending Hecate crashing back into the hard stone wall of the throne room. Her skull makes a sickening crack as she hits the wall, knocking her unconscious and leaving a trail of gold ichor as her body slides to the floor. Several gods try to run to her, but Cronus snaps his fingers again and they are frozen in place.

"Who**_ are_** you?!" Morpheus screams, trying to desperately move his legs towards Hecate's unconscious body.

Cronus smiles again, flashing Hades' teeth. "Why, shouldn't it be obvious?" his smile grows wider, "I am **_Cronus_**."

"No! Th-that's **_impossible_**! Hades would **_never_** have-" Morpheus is brought down with a sharp kick to his groin, followed by a heavy elbow to his neck. He groans as he crumples to the floor, hands clutching his lower abdomen and groin. "Apparently," he hears Cronus whisper in his ear, "you did not know my son very well."

"Now," Cronus says, taking Hades' staff from a whimpering shade, forming it into his old scythe, "does anyone else want to challenge me?"

Grabbing the still-frozen gods by their jaws and turning their heads, he forces them to shake their heads no as he walks around the room.

"Good," he says, laughing. "It's time for war."

* * *

The attack on Poseidon's palace comes swiftly, and the King of the Sea races outside to defend his home. The sea is in chaos as his warriors try to fight the incoming invaders; and he feels himself begin to despair as palace walls begin to crumble and are obliterated before his eyes.

When he spies Hades covered in black armor and a blood-red cape, he feels his stomach drop.

"Hades!" he yells, readying his trident, "Just what in the name of Tartarus do you think you're doing?!"

He sends a blast of energy from his trident directly towards Hades' face; he yells out in shock when Hades simply knocks the blast out of his way with a flick of his wrist, blowing his trident out of his hands. He's knocked down when Hades swings a large scythe towards him and his dropped trident is seized from him.

"I'll destroy you, you bastard!" Poseidon yells, trying to summon his warriors for support. "You'll wish you'd never been born-"

Hades grabs Poseidon by his neck and crushes his throat. "Now, now, Poseidon – is that any way to speak to **_me_**?"

Poseidon looks into Hades' eyes. _Gold, like Zeus's – like -_

"…**_Father?!_**" he shouts.

He starts to squirm and trash. _This** isn't** how it was supposed to **be**! _he thinks wildly to himself. _This **isn't** what was supposed to **happen**!_

The last thing he hears before he slips into unconsciousness is Cronus's dark laughter and a final scream directed towards the heavens – "**_Zeus, I'm coming for you!_**"

In the end, Poseidon isn't sure who yells it – his brother or his father.

* * *

She knows she's dreaming again.

She know what she's seeing isn't real.

But-

She can feel that there is truth to it.

She sees the wolf, wounded and snarling at her; sees into his eyes and knows it's him. When she tries to reach out to him, he snaps at her and growls, and she doesn't move any closer.

"Hades," she says, "I'm sorry."

When she looks into his eyes, all she sees is pain and anger. She tries to reach out again.

"Don't give up, my lord-"

He snarls and attacks her, pushing her onto her back and snapping at her face. Pain shoots through her arms as she tries to protect herself from him.

"Hades, you're hurting me!" she cries. _I am **not **Hades,_ she hears the wolf say. _You have **failed** in your mission, girl. _His voice makes her tremble. _Now, watch me **destroy** Olympus!_

She wakes with a start, heart racing against her chest and she looks at her arms. She feels immense relief when she sees that her arms have no cuts. Looking outside of her bedroom window – she's back at home now – she sees open fields of green grasses and colorful flowers and trees, nymphs and birds and occasional satyrs – life.

_This is bigger than me_, she thinks. "I can't let my mother destroy the world with famine," she says aloud._ But I also can't let Cronus destroy Olympus. _

She makes her decision.

She doesn't notice that outside, a storm is raging on Olympus.

* * *

"You did **_what_**?!" Demeter screams, slapping her daughter in her fit of rage. "How could you **_do_** this to **_me_**, Kore? I, the one who gave **_birth_** to you – how could you choose your **_kidnapper_** over your own **_mother_**?! **_How_**?!" She falls back into a chair and begins to cry. "How could you do this to me?"

* * *

When the doors of the palace are blasted down, Zeus feels **real** fear – a feeling which he hasn't felt in centuries.

He sees Poseidon, with his hands tied behind his back, pushed forward past the doors and onto the floor, bleeding ichor from the various cuts on his body. He hears his mother gasp, "My son!" before she falls to the floor, fainting.

"Poseidon!" Hera shouts from her throne next to Zeus, "Who has done this to you?!" Other gods rush into the throne room, ready to fight, and Ares feels a slight tingle of giddiness on the back of his neck. He hears Dionysus desperately trying to keep himself from laughing wildly, but when he looks around for Aphrodite, he doesn't see her. _Where is she?_ he wonders.

Poseidon looks up, his body shaking. "Cronus," he gasps before closing his eyes.

Ares sees Hades step out from the doorway, kicking Poseidon to the side. He smiles, contorting his face into an evil expression.

"Hello, Zeus. I've come to take my throne." When Hades talks, Ares thinks he can hear two voices.

_Finally,_ Ares thinks, smirking. _The war I've been waiting for_.

* * *

A/N: DUN DUN DUN! THE END IS NIGH, FOLKS. Please leave your glorious comments and reviews, my lovelies. ;D

-Inkspot


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28:

A/N: This probably has way more typos than my work usually does (which is saying quite a bit, I know), but I just wanted to hurry up and get it published before you guys killed me for taking so long. I will probably re-upload it when I publish the next chapter. Thanks for sticking with me so long, guys!

* * *

"Brother, I-"

"Haven't you figured it out yet, Zeus?"

Their gold eyes lock, and the two gods stare at each other.

"No, no – it – it can't be –"

"I am _not_ your brother."

The attack comes fast in a flash of color and an explosion of thunder as Zeus parries the slash from Cronus' scythe with his bolt; and though the blow is blocked, Zeus feels his arm spike with pain from the devastating power.

From his peripheral vision he can see the other gods begin to ready their weapons as Cronus once again strikes at him with his scythe. The strength of the blow nearly knocks him off balance as he once again blocks it.

"This battle is between **_me _**and **_Zeus_**! Do **_not_** interfere!" Another blow, this time near the top of his head, and Zeus feels the bones in his arm breaking from trying to block the hit. _This is dangerous,_ he thinks as he hears Ares and Dionysus snorting and laughing. _I am distracted_.

"We do not take orders from you, Hades!"

"Do as he says!" Zeus shouts. _He is not Hades. _He can hear his mother, now conscious, yelling at both of them. "Stop fighting!" he can hear her yelling desperately. "You are brothers! You are my sons!" _He is not my brother._

"Look into his eyes, mother! He is not your son!" Zeus watches Cronus circle around him, his mouth in a twisted parody of a smile.

"You will not win this fight, Father. I destroyed you once, and I will destroy you again." _Even if I have to destroy my brother, too. _

"Try it."

And so he does, attacking so fast that no one can see him as he slashes his bolt across Hades' – no, Cronus' – face, cutting and burning a thin, deep wound from the left corner of the god's forehead, between his dark eyebrows and all the way across his right cheek to the corner of his jaw. The attack makes Cronus stagger backwards, attempting to wipe the blood off of his face from the newly-inflicted wound. _That will leave a scar, _Zeus thinks with some satisfaction. _Good. _He almost begins to smile, until he hears Cronus' maniacal laughter.

"Is that all you have, Zeus? I was expecting more from you." Holding his palm out, Cronus sends a spiral of green flames from his hand, which Zeus easily dodges, followed by a heavy elbow to the back of his skull, knocking him down.

When he tries to roll over, he feels a heavy foot pressing down onto his neck. From the corner of his eye he can see the gods look at him with worry, even Ares.

"Father?" The look on his face reminds Zeus of when the god was small, confident and curious…it is a look of confusion. Zeus is sure Ares has never seen him like this; never seen him at the mercy of another god.

"Father?" his son asks again, drawing out his sword and stepping closer.

"Your son wants you to say something, Zeus," Zeus can feel Cronus' heavy weight press harder onto his throat, "Why don't you oblige him?"

* * *

It feels like an age since she was last at Olympus, but Persephone keeps going, her mother wailing and trailing far behind her. As she heads into the courtyard, she sees Morpheus and Hypnos, but before she can speak with any of them she is intercepted by Aphrodite and Eros.

"Ahh, the beautiful princess has returned to us – or should I say "queen"?" Aphrodite smiles at her.

"Hello, Aphrodite," Persephone smiles back. "I would love to catch up, but I really need to speak with my father," she hears the tell-tale sign of Demeter's close presence when a shrill voice yells out for her, and Persephone cringes. "Preferably before my mother catches up with me."

"Well, Zeus is quite, um, unavailable at the moment. Would you like to wait?"

Persephone narrows her eyes, says, "No. This is important, and I will see him now."

Aphrodite grabs her arm, squeezing tightly. "You can't see him; he's busy." _Stupid girl, _Aphrodite thinks. _You will ruin everything. _"Tell her why Zeus is busy, Eros."

Eros glares at his mother, but smiles politely at Persephone. "He has become quite enamored with a nymph and is, um, _indulging_ his passion with her."

Persephone rips her arm from Aphrodite's grasp and crosses her arms. "I _don't care_ if he's eating, drinking, ruling or fucking. I need to see him _now_, and I _will_ see him _now_."

At that moment loud thunderous crack sounds from the throne room, and Persephone looks over Aphrodite's shoulder.

"What in the name of Tartarus is going on here?" she asks, pushing past Aphrodite and Eros.

"Persephone, wait!" they both call after her.

* * *

They're all looking at him. They all have the same expression. How can this be happening again? Zeus imagines them all wondering. How can Zeus be losing? They're still looking at him, and he feels the pressure on his throat grow.

"Go!" he chokes out. "Get out of here while you still can!" The gods and goddess run out of the throne room, pushing and shoving.

* * *

Persephone starts running towards the throne room, breaking into an all-out sprint as she feels Aphrodite and Eros following her. Just as she is about to pull the large doors of the throne room open, she is almost knocked to the ground by the gods rushing out of it, screaming and pushing and yelling. When she regains her balance, she catches sight of Ares, who looks panicked and scared.

He all but rushes up to her, his mouth moving too fast to make any sort of coherent sound. He grabs her by the shoulders and looks her right in the eyes. "You have to go in there. You have to stop him." _You have to save my father._ He squeezes her shoulders. "Please." She nods slowly, and turns around and frowns when she sees him look over her head.

"You knew this would happen!" he yells at Aphrodite. He runs up to her and yells into her face and all the other gods stare at the four of them, Ares, Persephone, Aphrodite and Eros. "You had this planned all along, didn't you, you **_whore_**?! Poseidon, Cronus, Hades-" She stops his tirade with a hard slap to the face, making him spit out blood. He returns the slap with a punch to her face, knocking her backwards and onto the floor.

"How dare you hurt my mother-" Eros is silenced when Ares draws his sword and lightly jabs it into the other god's neck, keeping him at a distance.

"You had this planned all along, for Hades – for Cronus – to defeat Zeus. And then you were going to take the throne from him. How? Have you seen his power? How would you defeat a man who would so easily defeat my father?" Ares looks down at Aphrodite and sees her eyes flicker to Persephone, and Ares finally understands. _You bitch. _He looks at all the gods surrounding him and says his epiphany loudly, so that they can all hear it:

"Your plan was to make Hades fall in love with Persephone…so you could manipulate him. You must have known that Cronus was gaining strength, and you knew that Hades would seek help from Dionysus, who you knew would have come to me because of my love of war. Then all you had left to do was get Poseidon to do what you wanted and everything fell into place for you…His defeat would only be collateral damage, because the real prize you wanted was Zeus' throne, which an enraged Cronus could give you, because then from there you would capitalize on his weakness – Hades' love for Persephone. What, were you going to have Eros steal his scythe while you threw Persephone at Cronus and then cut him into pieces all over again? You wanted to rule Olympus by putting Eros on the throne. You manipulated all of us like we were pieces in a game."

"You wanted war, and you got it, you hypocrite!" she spits at him.

"I didn't want this," he says quietly, almost softly enough for it to be a whisper.

He turns his head to look at Persephone. "You're the only one who can stop all this."

"Persephone, no! Don't go in!" Demeter pushes her way past the crowd and looks at her daughter. "Please. Don't leave me."

Persephone runs to her mother and hugs her tightly. "I have to, Mother. I'm the only one who can stop this."

"Persephone…"

"Don't worry, Mother – we goddesses are immortal, remember? I will be fine." _I hope. _The gods and goddesses of Olympus, the Underworld and several sea gods look at her, worry on their faces, and she takes a deep breath as she pulls the doors of the throne room open.

* * *

Zeus looks up at Cronus, mad eyes gleaming with power. _Are you in there, Brother?_ he wonders. _Did you agree to be used like this? _Zeus doesn't know, isn't sure of anything – except for the fact that he has to defeat Cronus, and he has to get out from underneath his foot fast.

As he struggles to free himself, he sees the throne room doors open again.

"I thought I told you to get out!" he tries to choke out, but his words come out sputtered and garbled. He hears Cronus laugh him and crush his throat even harder.

"I am going to **_enjoy_** taking you apart, Zeus. Just think of it: **_piece_** by **_piece_**, I'll cut your body apart. I wonder…what should I start with first? Your eyes? Maybe your hands? Oh! _I _know…let's start with castration – that's always so much **_fun_**."

"Hades!"

Cronus' head twists to the doors of the throne room, and he smiles cruelly.

"Hades no longer exists, girl. You have failed."

"Go!" Zeus manages to choke out. "Leave, Persephone!"

Persephone shakes her head. Her fingers are shaking and her heart feels like it is about to burst out of her chest, but she presses forward.

"That's not true," she says, clearing her voice. "I know he's still there." She slowly steps closer.

Cronus snarls, and as she gets closer she sees the new cut across his face and his gold eyes and she tries not to grimace. He steps his foot off of Zeus' neck to properly face her, but he ends up replacing his foot with the scythe.

"He is **_gone_**, girl. His body is **_mine_** now."

Persephone feels tears threatening to fall, but she keeps her composure. "You are so confident and secure that he is gone, surely you will not deny me one last kiss." _Please work. Please._

Cronus frowns. "Are you stupid? You would not me kissing him, you would be kissing **_me_**."

"I just want one last kiss. I will pretend that you are Hades." _Please work, please work._

Cronus laughs, and it's an evil sound which makes her skin crawl. "Idiot girl. Kissing me will do you no good, but I suppose it will bring me some amusement. So go ahead, kiss me."

She knows her father is staring at her, but she doesn't care – she has to do this. This close up, she sees the infection of the curse has spread up to his neck, long black tendrils shifting and undulating._ Good – I won't have to reach as far…_

She places her hands on either side of his cheek and lightly presses her lips to his, consciously pushing past the taste of his blood that has managed to seep into his mouth from the cut on his face. She licks his lips and hears a surprised gasp as she deepens the kiss, moving her hands through his hair and down his neck where she presses and thinks hard, _Hades come back to me_. She keeps kissing him, until she starts to feel the world around her begin to spin and when she opens her eyes, she finds herself in a blinding white space filled with nothing.

"You came back." His voice is muffled, almost as if it is coming from underwater, but she knows it is his voice.

She turns around , and surely enough, he's there, and she looks into his eyes and find that they are as clear and as blue as ever.

"You came back," he says again, and the wonder in his voice makes her heart break.

"For you."

* * *

A/N: This is NOT the end yet, people, but it is VERY close. I know, I know; I made you guys wait FOREVAR and then I don't even end the story. I am a horrible human being, I know. But shit happens sometimes, you know how life goes. I will try to get the next chapter out this weekend. And there will be a sequel, just to let ya'll know. As always, leave comments and reviews.

Thanks again, everyone. We're almost done!


	29. Final Chapter

Chapter 29:

A/N: This is the end, folks. (Well not really - there will be an epilogue and a sequel, but yes, this is the end) Hold onto your butts!

* * *

"Hades?"

_This isn't real_, he thinks to himself. _She left me_. He's walking towards her, each footstep feeling like lead. When he reaches her, he traces his fingertips down across her cheeks.

"Is it really you?" he whispers.

She leans into his touch, and places her hands on his chest.

"Yes," she replies. "Yes, my love, it is me." She wraps her arms around him tightly, feeling his warm body, his cool breath on her ear and in her hair. He starts kissing her neck, each kiss becoming more insistent as he trails his fingers through her hair. His lips meet hers, and the emotion and passion of the kiss leaves the both of them clinging to each other, and before either of them realize what's happening, they're making love in this white, empty place.

* * *

Shortly after, laying in a pile of their robes, limbs entangled together, Persephone asks, " What is this place, Hades? Where are we?"

"I thought I lost you forever," he says, his deep voice raspy and broken in her ear. Her head is on his chest, and her hand is playing with the small tufts of hair around his navel. She's staring at his side. There is no dark mark there.

He tries to hold back a snort as her fingers brush a particularly sensitive area on his stomach. "You're ticklish." She smiles and kisses his chest.

"I am many things," he teases, cocking an eyebrow. "A god in love-"

"Hades," she looks up at him, suddenly serious. "There are very important things happening…"

He looks down at her. "I don't know where we are, or what this place is." _I just know that you're here with me, and that's all that matters. _

"Hades, this is serious-"

"I'm being serious, my love. I was in Tartarus and then I wound up here. I don't know long I've been here, or how I got here, but I do know that I don't feel…pain anymore. The burning is gone. And you're here now, and I couldn't be happier." He kisses the top of her head and smiles at her.

She smiles softly at him and touches his cheek. "Hades, your friends – our friends – they're waiting for us outside of this place."

"But once we leave," Hades looks at her, and his eyes begin to get darker and angrier, "You'll leave me. _Zeus _will take you away from me." He grits out his brother's name through clenched teeth.

"No he won't, Hades."

"You say that, but you don't know your father like I do-"

"I know he won't, Hades. He can't."

He gives her a look, cocking his head to the side. "What do you mean he 'can't'?" he asks, leaning back on his elbows.

The look of confusion on his face almost makes her giggle. "Oh my dear Hades, you can be so obtuse sometimes." She kisses his nose and he makes a face, which does make her giggle.

"I… ate the seeds."

If he's shocked, his face doesn't show it, and he asks, "How many?"

"Six," she answers immediately."

He nods and lays his head back down. "So you would spend half the year with me, and half the year with your mother." He clears his throat, "That would be Zeus' decision. I know it."

"Hades, I know it isn't perfect…but it's something. He can't let the humans die because of my mother." She touches his chest. "This is hard for me too. Please, let's go home."

"Why should I leave this place when it is so perfect? I feel no pain here, Persephone. None at all. And you're here with me. There's no reason to leave this place."

"Hades, listen to yourself! What about your kingdom? ! Who will rule it in your stead?"

"Poseidon can rule it," he says, rather flippantly. "He's always wanted to anyway."

"Our friends? Our family? What then?!"

"I don't know!" he shouts. "Persephone, I wouldn't know how to leave this place, even if I wanted to. I feel at peace here with you more than I've ever felt anything in my life. I don't…I can't go back to that pain. I can't lose you again." His eyes bore right through hers, and she almost looks away.

She cups his cheek. "Hades, your father has taken control of your body. He is going to destroy Zeus...And he'll probably end up destroying you."

Hades shuts his eyes and leans into her touch. "I went to my father. I …let him use my body." He opens his eyes, "What have I done, Persephone?" he gasps. "I was so angry, so, so angry. I wanted to_ kill_ him…**_destroy _**him, everyone. I just wanted to be out of pain… to have you by my side, and he took you away from me, just like he took Calliope away from me…" He clenches his fists.

She puts a hand on his chest. "My lord Hades, please calm down. Everything is not as it seems." She tells him about Aphrodite and her plan to take over Olympus.

Afterwards, she looks at him searching his face for any sort of indication of agreement.

"Persephone," he starts, " I just…I – I don't know how to fix the damage I've caused. This horrible mistake-"

"It will be hard, Hades, but you have to try. We have to leave this place." She kisses him, and get up and dress. She laces her fingers through his. "You are a king, remember? You are strong, brave and just."

He smiles at her. "You are right. Cronus does not control my destiny. I do."

Just then, black ooze begins to pour in from all sides of the white plane. A loud, malicious voice booms across the plane. "Do not think that you can regain control over body so easily, my son. I thought that I had completely destroyed you, but no matter - thanks to your idiot wife, I've managed to finally find the last piece of your consciousness. Soon I will destroy the both of you!"

The ooze begins to travel up their legs, burning their flesh. "Hades, you must hurry!" Persephone screams. She begins to feel the world spin around her and she feels herself fading. "Hades!" she yells. She gets one last good look at him before the ooze reaches up to his face. "I can do this," she thinks she sees him mouth.

* * *

When she returns to her body, she feels like she's been hit with several hundred tons of water. The sensation is disorienting, and she's quite sure that if she wasn't a goddess, she would be dead. As such, she staggers back from Cronus, clutching her head. She notices that her father is in much the same position as before. _How much time has passed? None at all…?_ She falls back as she see Cronus clutch his side, dropping his scythe and almost falling to his knees. She sees Zeus immediately grab the scythe, moving to strike at Cronus and slicing off a small piece of his thigh, causing him to stagger and fall forward onto his knees.

"What have you done to me, you bitch?!" he screams at her, as much from the pain in his side as from the wound inflicted from his own scythe.

"Keep fighting him, Hades!" she yells, stepping backwards. _I love you._ Zeus runs up beside her, holding the scythe and his lightning bolt.

"I will not be defeated so easily!" Cronus screams, coughing up black ooze. "If I cannot have your body, Hades, then I will destroy it!" he says, cackling and coughing. Cronus rips off the upper part of his torn chiton robe and armor. Then, something truly strange starts to happen.

The undulating mark on Hades' body begins to rise up from his skin and detach itself; large clumps of black ooze fall onto the white, marble floor. Cronus smiles evilly at Persephone. "Your love has doomed him to destruction!" and as Cronus says the words, his gold eyes begin to fade and change color from gray, to green and then finally blue. The entire right side of his abdomen up to his neck looks like it has been clawed open – and it's not healing. He falls onto his back, lifeless. "Hades!" she screams, moving to run towards him.

"Not yet," Zeus says, stopping her. He points to the black oozing mass that came from Hades' body…and it begins to from a body of its own. A head begins to form, followed by a body and arms and then legs, and the creature stands up, black and dripping and smelling of pungent infection.

"Father, please!" Persephone begs. Zeus nods at her. "Go, run to Hades. I'll take care of Cronus, once and for all." The oozing figure laughs, causing a piece of his body to fall off, only to return to his body by falling onto one of the legs on the way down.  
"Let's end this, Father," Zeus says, tossing back the scythe.

"Let's," the figure says, and the two rush towards each other in a flurry of light and metal clashes.  
Meanwhile, as Persephone reaches Hades, she notices that he is still breathing. _Of course he is still breathing, gods can't die. _"Hades." She has tears running down her cheeks, and she feels her breath hitching.

She sits down and crosses her legs, putting his head on her lap.  
His eyes are barely open, looking but not seeing. "…Persephone…is that…you?" His voice comes out pained and ragged. She wants to wail; to cry like she's never cried before. She won't.  
"Yes, Hades I'm here." She runs her hand through his hair, bloodied and matted with sweat and grime. She won't look at his side, but she knows – she knows that the color is red. _Mortal._

She's distantly aware of Zeus and Cronus, and she pays no mind as the palace begins to shake and crumble around them from the force of the battle.

"…I-" he coughs, spitting up red onto her hand, "I did it, right?"

"Yes, my love, you did." She keeps her hand on his neck, feeling his pulse. It's starting to fade. _This can't be happening. He's a god…how can he be d- No. That's impossible. _

The red blood from his torn up side is beginning to pool around them and the smell of iron fills her nostrils.

She hears a thunderous clash in the background and the fighting continues. She sees him start to loll his head back and she lightly slaps his cheek. "Stay awake, Hades."

"…Pers..phone…you…you…know I …love you." His eyes roll back. There's one last thunderous crack, but Persephone doesn't look up. She doesn't care.

She slaps him again. "Don't you dare leave me like this, Hades. Don't you dare," she feels his pulse fade even more and she screams. "Don't you dare die on me, you bastard!" Her falling tears leave small droplets on his face.

"Persephone." It's her father. He touches her shoulder. "The battle's over. Cronus has been defeated."

She looks up at him with tears streaming from her eyes. "He's dying, Father. I don't know what to do." The other gods are surrounding them, looking with horror and wonder.

She feels his pulse quickly fading, his breathing coming to a stand-still. "Somebody help him!" she screams. "Please."

Apollo steps forward and lightly touches Hades' side. He shakes his head. "He is mortal, now, Persephone. The wound is too severe to treat. He is going to die."

"Thanatos, please, don't do this!" she cries.

"I am not doing anything, my lady! I have no idea what is going on!"

_He's mortal. He's going to die. _She looks around at all the gods and screams in pain. His breathing stops. "**_No, no, no, no no!_**" she yells. "**_No!_**"

"My lady!" Persephone lifts her head up to the sound of a familiar voice. "My lady, I know a way!"

"Hurry, Hecate!"

"Of course, my lady," her friend says, sitting down close to her. "But this way, it involves a sacrifice. You must give up your immortal life for his-"

"No, absolutely not!" Demeter screams. "Let the scoundrel die!"

The other gods begin to murmur their opinions.

"I accept," Persephone says.

"Kore!" her mother rushes to her, crying. "You would sacrifice your life for this man?"

Persephone lifts up her chin. "No mother; I would sacrifice myself for this god."

Hecate touches Persephone's shoulder. "If you do not do this, Hades will completely die. No one knows where his spirit will go, if it will go anywhere at all, as no god, nor titan has ever died before. If you sacrifice yourself, though, giving your immortal life force to him, I may be able to keep a fragment of your spirit in this plane. You will be able to reincarnated, should your mother ever have any more children."

Persephone looks at her mother. "You know how important Hades is, mother. I have to do this. The Underworld needs its ruler."

Demeter touches her daughter's face. "My dear beautiful daughter, look at how strong you've become…"

"I need to do this, Mother. And besides, I will never be truly leave you."

His pulse is gone. Persephone snaps her head to Hecate. "Do it."

Hecate nods and places her hands on both Hades and Persephone, chanting. As she continues to speak, Persephone begins to feel weaker, but sees the rise and fall of Hades' chest begin again. She smiles when she sees his wounds begin to heal. She knows that they'll leave scars. His eyes open and he instantly gets up, though he seems to have some trouble with his right leg. He's looking at her. She thinks he might be yelling, but she can't tell what he's saying. He's definitely crying. She feels her body become lighter until she realizes that she has no body at all, and then she forgets who she is entirely. The only thing she knows is that she's made a good choice, whatever that choice was. She feels at peace.

The End.

* * *

A/N: The end, folks. There will be a short epilogue to tie up loose ends, and of course a sequel. I really appreciate all of you guys for sticking it out with me. So this is the end, but not the end, end. You know? Yeah, you know. As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments section. I love you all. Thanks again for being awesome! J


	30. Epilogue

Epilogue:

It's been weeks since the ordeal, since the battle that rocked the palace of Mt. Olympus, and weeks until he finally manages to get out of one of the many guestrooms. He didn't even leave come to his trial, and Zeus didn't make him. He was sentenced to 10 years without ambrosia, as was Poseidon, but Zeus told him that the sentence was only a formality to get Demeter off of his back; that he could eat ambrosia if he wanted to, but not to tell anyone else. Hades didn't think he could have possibly cared less. He was already weak; 10 years without ambrosia would only make him weaker. _Good,_ he decided. _It is a just punishment._ After Hades' and Poseidon's trial came Ares' and Dionysus', and the two were sentenced to five years of abstaining from war-making with the humans, and delighting in any sort of revelry or drinking, respectably. The irony was not lost on Hades, but he did not smile or laugh when Zeus told him the news, turning his back toward him while lying on the bed. He just wanted to sleep, to dream of her, and Zeus would not take that away from him as well. He hoped that his judges could rule in his stead, because he knew that he would be not fit to rule for quite some time. He spent days upon days sleeping, and each time he got close to her in his dreams she would always slip away. She was gone and he was broken, addicted to and craving on last glimpse of her smile, one last smell of her hair, one last caress of her fingers.

What finally made him get up to leave the bed, what finally stirred him to leave the room so many weeks after the battle, was Aphrodite's and Eros' trial. He had arrived in the throne room early, so that no one could see his limp. He had thought that the wound Zeus inflicted on his leg would have healed by now, but like so many other things, it would be a painful reminder of that day. This was his punishment. He was crippled. His face and body were scarred. His wife was-

_No, don't think about that now_, he had said to himself, clenching his hands. _You'll lose control of yourself._ Standing was hard with his bad leg, but he managed it by leaning back against the wall, putting most of his weight on his left foot to watch the proceedings. He noticed that much of the damage from the battle had already been repaired, though there were still some rather gaping holes in the ceiling. Most of the gods kept their distance from him, but there was a brief moment when Poseidon came over and squeezed his shoulder. He hadn't seen his brother since that time in the throne room, and he noticed that Poseidon had his fair share of white little scars on his face from the attack on his palace, though most were barely visible. No, Hades was not quite so lucky when it came to his scars. The moment was fleeting, though for how brief it was, there was a spark of something there that was not there before – understanding –and his brother walked into the crowd with the rest of the gods to watch the trial.

"Hades," he heard a familiar voice say. It was his mother.

He didn't look at her, instead choosing to keep his eye on Aphrodite as she squirmed in her seat while Zeus read out her crimes against Olympus.

"I'm sorry for all your pain, my son," she said, touching his cheek, and he allowed it, not because he wanted to, but because he didn't want to limp away from his mother in a room full of other gods. _A traitor, a fool and a damned cripple on top of everything else_, he thought morosely.

"I don't need your pity," he said, flatly. Despite that, she hugged him and kissed him on the cheek, and he was truly surprised, though he kept his face from betraying that fact. She moved to stand beside him and lean against the wall, holding his hand in hers. He pretended not to notice, except that when Zeus stated his punishment for Aphrodite and Eros – 100 years in the deepest level of Tartarus – he squeezed his mother's hand. And once again to his surprise, she squeezed back.

Now after the trial there is a feast, and most of gods, even those of the Underworld, dance and cheer with the rest. He takes the chance of someone seeing him in their inebriated state to hobble outside, and look over the world from this high palace of Mount Olympus. The setting sun makes the clouds turn different shades of yellow and pink and orange, and the lights from the villages below give an almost star-filled quality to the whole thing. It really is quite a beautiful site. He wishes she were here with him to see it. _Perhaps she is_, he thinks. _Perhaps she is._

"I figured you would come out here," Zeus says. "Care for a drink?"

"No, thank you," he replies, not turning to look at his brother.

"I …noticed that you were… limping." Zeus waits for almost a whole minute before he gets a response, and when he does, it's curt and clipped.

"Yes." His voice is monotone and flat when he finally does speak.

The music inside is happy and festive. Neither one of them feels that is appropriate.

"I've made Demeter keep her…weather cycle? Yes, weather cycle, that she has created for the humans." He waits a moment for a response. He receives none. Zeus takes a sip from his goblet before continuing. "Demeter tells me that she will have no more children."

Hades nods, and the look on his face is almost wistful. "That seems like something she would say."

"You don't believe her."

"Not for a second."

Zeus smiles at his brother. "I forgot how strong you were, brother. When we were fighting-"

"_We_ weren't fighting, Zeus."

"All the same, it _was_ your body. You had me bested." He slaps a hard hand on Hades' shoulder, and if the god were a cat – and didn't have an injury in his leg – he's pretty sure his back would have arched and he would have crawled up a wall to the top of a ceiling, hissing all the way.

"I hate it when you do that," Hades says. He still won't look at his brother, but Zeus still has him talking, which he guesses is some progress.

"That's why I love doing it," Zeus says, smacking his shoulder again, lighter this time.

Hades' icy blue eyes shift to look at Zeus, and he figures playtime is over.

"What will you do now, Hades?" he asks, squeezing Hades' shoulder not much differently than the way Poseidon had done earlier.

"What else is there left to do?" Hades asks, looking up towards the stars in the sky. "I will wait for her."

Zeus almost snorts at his brother's unrelenting belief in Hecate's nonsense. He had hoped telling Hades what Demeter had said would dissuade him from such blind pursuits. "Hades, even if she does happen to have another child, what if she decides to hide her? You could spend years looking, never finding her." Zeus says, moving to look out from the balcony as well.

"Then I will spend years looking," Hades says as he turns to face Zeus, " but I will find her."

"She won't remember who you are."

"She won't have to."

"She won't love you."

For the first time in the weeks since the battle, Hades smiles. "We'll see."

* * *

A/N:

Annnnnnd that's all folks. Be on the lookout for the sequel, k guize? Love you all, thanks for sticking with me. Of course, leave your comments and reviews.


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